NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday mounted another attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Diwali visit to Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, a region once notorious for the presence of Naxalites.Firing a fresh salvo over PM Modi’s “dimagi naxal” remark during his visit, the Congress leader repeated his challenge for the Prime Minister to debate him over “who is anti-national and who is controlled by foreign forces”.Tagging CRPF on his X post, the Rae Bareli MP also wrote: “Your faces said it all: you didn’t buy the PM’s lies. He called us Naxals.”Rahul was responding to PM Modi’s claim that “Naxalites have been eliminated, but the threat is not yet over”.During his visit to Bastar on Sunday, PM Modi made a big assertion saying “while armed Naxalites have been wiped out from the forests, ‘Dimagi Naxals’ have taken control of several organisations”.“We must remember one thing. Naxalites have been eliminated, but the threat is not yet over. Even today, they are inciting people against the country’s Constitution and democracy. These ‘Dimagi Naxals’ have also infiltrated several political parties and different organisations. We must identify them, defeat them and ensure the security of the nation,” PM Modi was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI, which Rahul rebutted on Monday.PM Modi further said the Maoist terror elimination was a victory of the country’s right policies and strong political will.“Amid the successes, we must remember one more thing. Naxalites have been eliminated, but the threat is not over yet. Armed Naxalites have disappeared from forests, but ‘dimagi Naxals’ (their ideological supporters) have taken control of several organisations,” he said. “Even today, they are instigating people against the country’s Constitution and democracy. They have infiltrated several political parties and organisations. We must identify and defeat them and secure the country,” he added.On his Independence Day in August, PM Modi had also referred to ‘dimagi Naxals’, saying the country succeeded in removing armed Naxalism, but its ideological supporters were seeking opportunities to promote violence.
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Recalling the fight against Naxalism in Bastar, PM Modi on Sunday said it was not easy, as at one point over 230 districts across nearly 20 states were affected by Left-Wing Extremism. After sunset, life would come to a standstill. Thousands of villages and crores of people were affected, with around 2,000 Naxal attacks taking place annually, he said.“This land had become soaked in blood of our brave personnel, but not a single sigh of grief was heard from any of the ‘naamdaar’ (powerful people) living in palaces. Not a single tear rolled down their eyes. Such attacks continued to take place somewhere or the other almost every day,” he said, targeting previous governments.