Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a jibe at the Congress party, saying Naxalism in India had got encouragement for decades due to the policies of the grand old party.
Modi was addressing a public meeting in Mohbhattha village in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, a state which remains a Maoist stronghold despite a fall in Naxal activities nationally.
"Over the decades, Naxalism got encouragement in many states including Chhattisgarh due to policies of Congress. Whichever region lagged in development, Naxalism flourished there, but what did the party that ran the government for 60 years do? It declared such districts as backward and turned away from its responsibility," said the prime minister.
#WATCH | Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Chhattisgarh had to be made a state because the benefits of development were not reaching here. Development work could not be done here under the Congress rule, and even if there was some development work, the… pic.twitter.com/3PSVm0OjBa
— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2025
According to data shared by the government in the Rajya Sabha last week, Chhattisgarh reported 267 incidents of Maoist violence in 2024, making it the worst-affected state in the country. Along with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana also continue to report a heightened presence of Maoist activity. Most of other Maoist-affected states, however, showed a clear downward trend in recent years.
Modi said indifference of erstwhile governments towards the Naxal menace was like adding fuel to the fire. “You (Chhattisgarh) have also suffered it. The (previous) Congress government never took care of amenities of poor tribals," he said.
The prime minister claimed that ever since the BJP government came to power in Chhattisgarh, the situation has changed.
"Due to development and welfare efforts, a new era of peace is being seen in the naxal-affected areas," he said and listed the various initiatives launched by the Centre for the development of such areas.
"The housing dreams of the poor people went missing in files during the previous (Congress) government, but the BJP government has fulfilled this dream. Our government not only makes houses but also makes (enriches) lives of people who live there," he said.
