BJP President Amit Shah today attacked the Congress party by linking Congress rule with the growth of Naxalism. Shah, while addressing a convention of booth-level workers in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, stated that Naxalism flourishes wherever the party comes to power and weakens where the party does not rule.
“In Chhattisgarh, after the Raman Singh government came to power, Naxalism vanished. Whenever the Congress comes to power, Naxalism flourishes and whenever it goes out of power, the menace weakens. What is the relation the Congress has with Naxals?” said Shah.
He backed his statement with examples saying, “When Naxalism took birth in West Bengal, Congress was in power there. Similarly, when Naxalism flourished in Andhra Pradesh, Congress was in power and the same party was ruling when the menace entered Chhattisgarh”.
Shah also attacked Congress President Rahul Gandhi and said that Gandhi used to ask that what Modi did in last five years but he must know that BJP did in 55 months what Congress could not do in 55 years. He praised the Modi government for safeguarding the borders.
The BJP government has achieved significant success against Naxalism during its tenure in the center. As per the official statistics of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a steady decline was observed in Maoist violence since the Modi government came to power. The government has adopted a number of measures to tackle the menace of Naxalism. The measures include aggressive anti-terror operations, developing infrastructure and increased connectivity in areas infested with Left-Wing terrorism.
The result was that the people living in Naxal affected areas started demanding development and expressed the willingness to be a part of the mainstream. Last year in the month of May, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced the formation of a specialised anti-Naxal combat force called ‘Black Panthers’.
In April last year, 44 districts were removed from the list of districts affected by Left-Wing terrorism. This was followed by a very successful operation by security forces against the Naxalites in which 38 Naxals were killed.
Several Congress leaders have been known to be sympathetic and apologising for Naxals. There have been several instances where Congress leaders come out branding anti-Naxal operations as fake encounters and claim that the government is targetting innocents. Congress leader Raj Babbar had stoked controversy last year when he had called Naxals as ‘revolutionaries’.
