Raipur, March 31 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was committed to ending Maoism by developing the areas that were once insurgent strongholds as he accused the Congress of "encouraging" Left Wing Extremism (LWE).

Addressing a rally in the Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, Modi said that the policies of previous Congress governments provided impetus to Maoism and hindered the state's development.

"Over the decades, Naxalism got encouragement in many states, including Chhattisgarh, due to the policies of Congress. Whichever region lagged in development, Naxalism flourished there, but what did the party that ran the government for 60 years do? It declared such districts as bac...