Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 16: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday accused senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram of shielding "dimagi Naxals" after he said he was "proud" to be described as one.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said from the Red Fort that "dimagi Naxalism" continued to pose a challenge to the nation, Chidambaram said he was "proud" to be called a "dimagi Naxal".
Several BJP leaders, including Parliamentarians and party spokespersons, reacted sharply to the remarks, accusing Chidambaram of acting as a "shield" for Naxals and their sympathisers.
Speaking to IANS, BJP spokesperson R.P. Singh accused Chidambaram of having a "soft corner" for Naxals.
"He is calling himself as 'dimagi Naxal' because I think he wants to provide a cover to such people who are 'dimagi Naxals' and 'Urban Naxals'," Singh said.
BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain echoed the criticism, saying, "The Congress leaders' behaviour is turning out to be worse than the Naxals. The latter could be eradicated from the jungles but P Chidambaram is calling himself 'dimagi Naxal'... conspiring against the country and creating misunderstandings about the nation, Congress leaders leave no stone unturned to insult the country."
He added, "The Prime Minister did not directly refer to Congressmen as 'dimagi naxals,' but if Congress leaders are volunteering to accept that label themselves, that is their own problem."
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma questioned why the Opposition was not concerned about the Prime Minister's warning regarding violence and the mindset associated with Naxalism.
"The Opposition is getting trapped regarding the 'Naxal' word but it never speaks on the damages caused due to such mindset," he told IANS.
Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari displayed an illustration and targeted Chidambaram over his remark.
"To P. Chidambaram, who calls himself a 'proud dimagi naxal', I want to show him: this was your tenure, when not a single one among all those Naxal terrorists were killed by the Congress party," Bhandari said.
"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Home Minister Amit Shah ji, all top Naxal commanders have been completely eliminated and the poor tribals, who were tormented by them, were saved. The nation put an end to the Naxal menace," he asserted.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Sunday issued a clarification regarding the Prime Minister's remark, saying that Modi was not referring to Opposition leaders.
"Only following are 'Dimagi Naxals': Who support Maoists and reject Indian Constitution, those who stand with separatists and support Article 370 and those who want to cut chicken neck to separate North-East from India," Rijiju said in a post on X.