Kolkata, Sep 15 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has lashed out against a section of the "big press" for allegedly supporting the Maoists and said some journalists were sympathetic to the rebels without knowing their ideology.

"A section of the big press is always supporting the cause of Maoists. Some journalists may be sympathetic to the Maoists' cause without having a concrete idea about their ideology," Bhattacharjee said in an interview to the newly launched website of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state unit.

Bhattacharjee alleged that owners of the 'big press' wanted to use Left extremism to attack mainstream Left parties.

"The owners of the big press know very well that Left extremism always helps rightwing politics against mainstream Left in the country," he said.

Describing Maoists as a threat to all "right thinking citizens", Bhattacharjee said: "Their programme is to destroy the democratic structure, constitution and the Indian state."

He said Maoists operate in very difficult terrain not because "poor people, particularly tribals" live there but because these areas give them "topographical advantage to implement their politics of terror".

While conceding that under-development was one of the reasons for the rise of Maoists in the state, he said: "But (underdevelopment is) not the main problem."

To buttress his argument, Bhattacharjee referred to the separatist Khalistani movement that rocked Punjab although that state's per capita income then was highest in the country.

Asked asked about the alleged nexus between the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress, he said: "The party wants to be the ruling party in the state by hook or crook. Therefore, they support Maoist annihilation programme ... where they have no following. They want to enter that area with the help of Maoists."