NEW DELHI, Nov 8: The Congress on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on “dimagi Naxals”, with party leader Jairam Ramesh saying the Prime Minister was “distraught, disturbed and desperate” and his “jhola-picking-up time” was fast approaching.
Modi, while celebrating Deepavali with security personnel at a CRPF camp in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, said armed Maoists had been eliminated but their ideological supporters had infiltrated several political parties and organisations and were instigating people against the Constitution and democracy.
“We must identify and defeat such elements and secure the country,” Modi said. He said government decisions had dealt “very big blows” to the funding of Naxals and secessionists.
Ramesh said Modi had used a solemn, non-political occasion and donned the uniform of security forces to attack his political rivals. “This is a brazen assault on all institutional norms but when has that ever stopped this man,” he said.
He said Modi had called those demanding a caste census “urban naxals” on April 28, 2024, before announcing on April 30, 2025 that a caste census would be conducted as part of Census 2027.
Ramesh also said Modi had described those protesting against the three black farm laws as supporters of a Naxal ideology in September 2020, before withdrawing the laws on November 19, 2021.
“The PM is clearly distraught, disturbed and desperate. Jhola-picking-up time is fast approaching,” Ramesh said.
