New Delhi: Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he flagged the challenge from “urban Naxals”, the Congress on Tuesday cited a reply from the Centre in Parliament, stating that the home ministry does not use the phrase “urban Naxals”, and asked whether he believes that anybody opposed to him is deemed so.
Addressing a gathering at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters on Tuesday after 45-year-old Nitin Nabin was declared elected as the party’s national president, Modi said, “Another major challenge is that of urban Naxals who are expanding their influence globally.”
Reacting to the prime minister’s remarks, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh pointed out that Modi spoke of the danger from those he called “urban Naxals”.
“On March 11 2020, the Minister of State of Home answered a question in the Rajya Sabha saying that the Union Home Ministry does not use the phrase ‘urban naxals’. On April 29 2024, the PM himself accused those calling for a caste census and those expressing concern on economic inequalities as suffering from an ‘urban naxal’ mindset,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
Will the prime minister clarify or does he believe that anyone opposed to him is an urban Naxal, the Congress leader asked.
In his remarks, Modi said even those who speak positively about him or the government are occasionally targeted and silenced.
“If they tweet something positive about Modi even once or twice a year or say something positive on TV or write something positive in a newspaper, some journalists humiliate them so much that they are hounded and made untouchable…. This is the style of urban Naxals,” he said.
Modi said the BJP was isolated and treated as untouchable for years, while adding that the country is recognising these tactics now.
“Urban Naxals are continuously working to harm India. We have to defeat this nexus through the strength of our organisation and ideology,” he said.
