Manmohan asks Naxals to give up arms, contest polls

In a democracy, power flows through the ballot rather than the barrel of the gun, the prime minister said at a function in Hyderabad.

"Extremism of any form, based on any divisive ideology, cannot be tolerated in any civilised and democratic society," he said while inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of Telugu daily Prajashakti, a mouthpiece of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

"Faced with such terror tactics, the government will have no option but to fight such groups and their ideology of hatred."

Manmohan Singh's remarks come after the Andhra Pradesh government's re-imposition of a ban on the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and its frontal organisations.

The ban was re-imposed two days after Maoists gunned down Congress legislator C Narsi Reddy and eight other people in an attack during Independence Day celebrations on August 15.