Soren skips meeting with Chidambaram in Kolkata

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"Soren could not leave for Kolkata as he fell ill early Tuesday morning. Two Deputy Chief Ministers Sudesh Mahto and Raghubar Das have left for Kolkata to attend the meeting," Safiq Ansari, Soren's press adviser, told IANS.

Ansari said: "He is suffering from a blood pressure problem. He is likely to be admitted to hospital."

In political circles however, Soren's decision to not attend the meeting with Chidambaram is seen otherwise. Top Maoist leader, Kishanji of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), in a statement to the local media, warned Soren not to attend the meeting of four state chief ministers with Chidambaram. Kishnaji had reportedly said that the door for dialogues would be closed forever if Soren attended the meeting.

The banned CPI-Maoist has called a three-day strike in four states - Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal - to protest the proposed offensive against them known as Green Hunt.

A fortnight ago, Jharkhand Police Chief Neyaz Ahmad said that 70-75 percent of the preparations for the offensive against the Maoists was complete.