Raipur, April 17 -- A day after 29 Naxals were killed in an encounter in Kanker, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said on Wednesday that the "government is open for talks as we want peace in Bastar at any cost."

"All the Naxalites killed in the operation (in Kanker) were hardcore Naxals. A huge amount of arms and ammunition have been recovered from them. Their post-mortem is going on; it may take time.The government is open for talks and discussion, as we want peace in Bastar at any cost," he told ANI.

He further said that the incident has nothing to do with the elections.

"This is not connected with the elections. Earlier, the Naxals used to do something or other to put pressure on officers of the election commission or...