Kolkata, Feb 9 (IANS) Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram's meeting with four state governments to chalk out a comprehensive inter-state operation against the Maoists began at the State Secretariat Writers Building Tuesday.

The governments of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal were taking part in the meeting, discussing the modalities of a joint operation against the ultras who were active in the four states.

However, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were not attending the meeting.

While Jharkhand was represented by its deputy chief ministers, Bihar was represented by officials.

Chief ministers Naveen Patnaik and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee led the Orissa and West Bengal delegations, respectively.