You should honour security personnel's sacrifices instead of questioning PM Babulal Marandi to Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, Nov 9 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi on Monday asked Rahul Gandhi to show respect for the CRPF personnel who sacrificed their lives in fighting Naxalism, instead of raising questions about their contributions.

     Marandi's response came after Gandhi on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "Dimagi Naxals" remarks while addressing CRPF personnel, saying the jawans didn't buy his "lies", and challenged the PM again to debate him on who is anti-national and controlled by foreign forces.

     PM Modi had said that the Maoist terror elimination was a victory of the country's right policies and strong political will. "This is a victory of your valour, courage and restraint," he told the jawans.

     "Amid the successes, we must remember one more thing. Naxalites have been eliminated, but the threat is not over yet. Armed Naxalites have disappeared from the forests, but 'dimagi Naxals' (their ideological supporters) have taken control of several organisations," he said.

     Reacting sharply to Gandhi's remarks, Marandi asked him in a post on X in Hindi, "Rahul Gandhi, will you also tell the mothers of those martyred soldiers that Naxalism is nothing?"

     "Will you say the same to the widows and orphaned children who have lived their lives after losing their loved ones?" the Leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly added.

     Marandi said that, for the first time in 47 years, CRPF personnel have completed 12 consecutive months without a single operational martyrdom.

     "This is the result of our soldiers’ indomitable courage and the decisive fight against Naxalism," he added.

     "Instead of questioning this achievement for the country after seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrate Diwali among the soldiers, you should honour those soldiers’ sacrifices," he added.

     Wading in, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also hit out at the Congress leader and said in a post on X, "How would Rahul ji know Babulal ji that you've lost your own son (in a Naxal attack)."

     In another post, Dubey asked Gandhi to reveal which Chinese minister he met when he went on the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in 2018.

     "After the 2008 agreement between the Congress and the Communist Party of China, who are those 200 people you have sent to China under the exchange program till 2018? What are their names and addresses?" the BJP leader asked.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)