Patna: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday underlined the need for communal harmony, said the Maoist menace would be weeded out, and declared that the Narendra Modi government is committed to the uplift of the backward sections of society.

Rajnath, who attended a function organised by the BJP in Patna on the eve of 160th Vijayotsava, celebrated to mark Veer Kuer Singh's victory over British forces during the first war for independence in 1857 in Bihar's Bhojpur region, cautioned people to be on guard against the forces that wanted to "weaken India from within" by using divisive techniques.

He reminded the audience about the important role played by both Hindus and Muslims during the freedom movement.

"If Chandrashekhar Azad sacrificed his life for the sake of country so did Ashfaqullah Khan," Rajnath said. "Be it Rana Pratap or be it Kuer Singh, they always used to take along all sections of the society."

There were a few bad people everywhere but stereotyping a community based on the acts of one, two or four persons was wrong, he said.

Earlier in the day, during his visit to Jalalpur in Saran district, around 76km north-west of Patna, the Union home minister spoke at length about the "good work" being done by the Nitish Kumar government to fight the Maoist menace.

Rajnath had gone there to take part in a function organised for the inauguration of a building of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police's 6th battalion.

On a day security forces killed at least 14 Naxal guerrillas in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, he said: "The morale of the Naxals is at a low and this problem is bound to be weeded out from the country."

Naxals, he said, suck the blood of the poor people but send their own children to study in foreign universities.

"They claim to be saviour of poor people but when we try to do development works they put hurdles. We are committed to reach to such regions," Rajnath said.

During his speech in the Patna function, which was attended by senior party leaders including Bihar BJP state unit president Nityanand Rai and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Rajnath rubbished allegations being that the Centre was ignoring Dalits and backward communities.

"In his very first interaction with the media after taking oath, Narendra Modi had said that his government was for the poor," Rajnath said.

Hs also dwelt at length upon the various works the Narendra Modi government has done in sanitation, power and other such areas which aimed to help the deprived sections of society.