Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on August 17 intensified the political row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “dimagi Naxal” remark, calling senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram a “pure Naxal”.
Addressing a press conference, Sarma questioned whether Chidambaram’s tenure as Union Home Minister should be examined in the context of the government’s efforts to combat Left-Wing Extremism. He said an inquiry should determine whether Chidambaram had failed to take adequate action against Naxalism while in office.
The remarks came after Modi, in his Independence Day address on August 15, said security forces had eliminated armed Naxals from forests but warned that people with what he described as a “Maoist mindset” continued to pose an ideological threat.
Chidambaram responded on social media on August 16, saying he was “proud to be a dimagi naxal”.
Sarma also accused the Congress of being uncomfortable with what he described as the peaceful situation in the country under Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He alleged that the party wanted to create an atmosphere of anarchy to return to power in 2029.
