Shafaqna India: Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has launched a sharp counterattack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Independence Day warning against what he described as “dimagi naxals”, declaring: “I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!”
Chidambaram’s pointed retort came a day after Modi, speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India’s 80th Independence Day, warned that the country may have defeated armed Naxalism in the forests but still faces a threat from people carrying a Maoist ideology within the system.
The Congress leader’s remark has added a political edge to an already contentious debate over the prime minister’s use of the term, which critics say risks casting a wide ideological net over dissenting voices.
In his address, Modi alleged that people with a Maoist mindset had entrenched themselves in the “corridors of power”, including as advisers to government committees, and had influenced public policy. He urged citizens to remain vigilant and to “identify and isolate” such people.
Modi also highlighted his government’s campaign against armed Naxalism since 2014, saying decades of Maoist violence had devastated communities and extinguished the aspirations of millions of young people. He cited the deaths of more than 3,500 police and security personnel during the conflict.
The prime minister said regions once scarred by gunfire and bloodshed were now witnessing development and a renewed sense of trust after being freed from Naxal violence.
But for the Congress, the prime minister’s remarks have opened another front of political confrontation.
Chidambaram, one of the Congress’s senior voices and a former Union home and finance minister, chose brevity over elaboration, responding on X with the eight-word retort: “I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!”
His intervention comes as the Opposition increasingly questions the political meaning of the phrase and its possible use against those who challenge the government’s policies or worldview.
The exchange has also revived a broader ideological contest between the BJP and Congress over the boundaries of dissent, political opposition and national security. While the government presents the fight against Naxalism as a long-running battle against violence and anarchy, the Opposition has raised concerns over extending the label to ideological or political critics.
For now, Chidambaram’s terse response has ensured that Modi’s Independence Day warning does not remain confined to the Red Fort—it has spilled directly into the political arena, with the Congress turning the prime minister’s phrase back on him.
