BHOPAL, May 11: Chief Minister Digvijay Singh's nod to the Home Department to impose a ban on the People's War Group (PWG) in Madhya Pradesh has surprised political circles here because he had always resisted the demand.

Digvijay's argument had been that the Naxalite issue in the State was more of a socio-economic problem than of law and order. Moreover, he had never considered the presence of Naxalites in the State unmanageable.

The last major incident in MP involving Naxalites had occurred in mid-September last year when some 40 Naxals raided the Manpur police station in Rajnandgaon district and took away a large cache of arms and ammunition. The incident had shaken the police department to such an extent that the police and Home Minister Charan Das Mahant had asked the Chief Minister to ban the PWG. However, Digvijay had firmly ruled it out.

Therefore, the ban now is surprising because no major Naxalite attack has taken place in the State since then. Sources in political circles in Bhopal suggest that the ban is essentially aimed at containing Arvind Netam's growing influence rather than checking the Naxalite problem.

Netam, who had crossed over to the Bahujan Samaj Party, has been attracting a large number of tribals during his visits to the Chhatisgarh region.

Political circles here feel that with the PWG banned, it would be easier for the MP police to stem the discontent among the tribals which is being fanned by Netam to his advantage.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.