TIL Desk/National/Chhattisgarh/ Describing Maoists as ‘monsters with evil mindset’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused the Congress of backing ‘urban Naxals’ who, he said, were ‘remote-controlling’ the Maoist insurgency in this region and ruining the lives of poor tribals.
The Congress hit back at Modi and accused him of indulging in his ‘trademark petty politics’ and seeking to hide his ‘abject failure and weak-kneed’ approach to fighting Naxalism.
The party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also reminded Modi that the Congress lost over 25 of its leaders to Naxal attack in 2013. Addressing his first election rally in insurgency-hit Bastar district in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Modi also said the Congress was making ‘fun’ of Adivasis.
Bastar goes to vote on Monday as part of the first phase of the two-phase assembly polls. Urban Naxals is a term used to describe city-based supporters working in alleged front organisations of proscribed Maoist outfits.
Modi’s comments came a day after four civilians and a Central Industrial Security Force jawan were killed when suspected Naxals blew up a bus with an improvised explosive device in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district in a fresh wave of Maoist attacks.
