Congress challenges Modi over Diwali Naxal remarks
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using a Diwali visit to security personnel in Chhattisgarh to attack political opponents, objecting to his description of ideological adversaries as “Dimagi Naxals”.
Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said on Sunday that the Prime Minister's comments in Bastar breached institutional norms and turned an occasion intended to honour security forces into a political confrontation. His criticism followed Modi's warning that ideological supporters of Maoism remained active despite the government's declared success against armed insurgency.
“The Prime Minister has not spared the nation even on Diwali day his trademark abuse,” Ramesh wrote on X. “He has once again spoken of what he calls dimagi naxals.” He characterised the remarks as “a brazen assault on all institutional norms”, arguing that the Prime Minister was using allegations of extremism against people who disagreed with his policies.
Modi made the comments while addressing personnel at the CoBRA Operations Base in Karanpur, Bastar, where he celebrated Diwali on November 8. The facility has served as a training and operational base for counterinsurgency missions in Bastar and Abujhmad.
The Prime Minister said armed Maoists had been driven from forest areas but warned that the danger had not entirely disappeared. He alleged that people he termed “Dimagi Naxals”, or ideological Naxals, had entered political parties and other organisations and were encouraging opposition to constitutional and democratic institutions. He called for such elements to be identified and defeated.
The allegations were political claims rather than findings against any named party or organisation. Modi did not identify particular individuals in the remarks highlighted by Ramesh, and the Congress leader challenged the wider practice of associating government critics with Maoist extremism.
Ramesh cited two earlier political disputes to support his argument. He referred to Modi's criticism of advocates of a caste census during the 2024 general election campaign, when the Prime Minister used the expression “urban Naxals”. Ramesh contrasted that position with the government's announcement in April 2025 that caste enumeration would form part of the next national census.
The Congress leader also pointed to the protests against three agricultural laws enacted in 2020. He alleged that Modi had associated opponents of the legislation with Naxal ideology, before the government announced the repeal of the laws in November 2021 following prolonged demonstrations by farmers.
Those policy reversals, Ramesh suggested, undermined the use of ideological labels against critics. He described Modi as “distraught, disturbed and desperate” and added a personal political jibe about the Prime Minister's future. His intervention was directed principally at the language of the Bastar address rather than at the security forces' operational achievements.
Modi, meanwhile, presented the visit as recognition of personnel who had spent years confronting Maoist violence. He said the 2026 festival marked the first Diwali when every district was free of Naxalism, describing the outcome as a national achievement attributable substantially to the sacrifices of security personnel.
That sweeping assessment reflected the government's position on the insurgency. It did not remove the distinction Modi himself drew between the claimed defeat of armed groups and what he described as a continuing ideological threat. His speech combined praise for counterinsurgency operations with criticism of earlier administrations, which he accused of limiting the freedom of security forces to act.
He said his government had empowered personnel to make operational decisions and had worked to disrupt the support networks sustaining Maoist violence. The address also referred to efforts to improve conditions in areas affected by the insurgency and to draw local communities towards government programmes.
The Bastar event brought together personnel from forces involved in internal security operations. Modi acknowledged the contributions of the Central Reserve Police Force, its CoBRA commandos, the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, state police units and specialised local formations.
The dispute also exposed contrasting interpretations of the occasion. For the government, the visit celebrated the conclusion of a security campaign. For Congress, the objection concerned the Prime Minister’s decision to introduce accusations about political organisations while addressing personnel during Diwali.
He also extended Diwali greetings to personnel deployed along the country's borders, saying those serving away from their families were part of his own extended family. The Prime Minister's Office described the Karanpur base as a launch point for operations in Bastar and Abujhmad.
Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said on Sunday that the Prime Minister's comments in Bastar breached institutional norms and turned an occasion intended to honour security forces into a political confrontation. His criticism followed Modi's warning that ideological supporters of Maoism remained active despite the government's declared success against armed insurgency.
“The Prime Minister has not spared the nation even on Diwali day his trademark abuse,” Ramesh wrote on X. “He has once again spoken of what he calls dimagi naxals.” He characterised the remarks as “a brazen assault on all institutional norms”, arguing that the Prime Minister was using allegations of extremism against people who disagreed with his policies.
Modi made the comments while addressing personnel at the CoBRA Operations Base in Karanpur, Bastar, where he celebrated Diwali on November 8. The facility has served as a training and operational base for counterinsurgency missions in Bastar and Abujhmad.
The Prime Minister said armed Maoists had been driven from forest areas but warned that the danger had not entirely disappeared. He alleged that people he termed “Dimagi Naxals”, or ideological Naxals, had entered political parties and other organisations and were encouraging opposition to constitutional and democratic institutions. He called for such elements to be identified and defeated.
The allegations were political claims rather than findings against any named party or organisation. Modi did not identify particular individuals in the remarks highlighted by Ramesh, and the Congress leader challenged the wider practice of associating government critics with Maoist extremism.
Ramesh cited two earlier political disputes to support his argument. He referred to Modi's criticism of advocates of a caste census during the 2024 general election campaign, when the Prime Minister used the expression “urban Naxals”. Ramesh contrasted that position with the government's announcement in April 2025 that caste enumeration would form part of the next national census.
The Congress leader also pointed to the protests against three agricultural laws enacted in 2020. He alleged that Modi had associated opponents of the legislation with Naxal ideology, before the government announced the repeal of the laws in November 2021 following prolonged demonstrations by farmers.
Those policy reversals, Ramesh suggested, undermined the use of ideological labels against critics. He described Modi as “distraught, disturbed and desperate” and added a personal political jibe about the Prime Minister's future. His intervention was directed principally at the language of the Bastar address rather than at the security forces' operational achievements.
Modi, meanwhile, presented the visit as recognition of personnel who had spent years confronting Maoist violence. He said the 2026 festival marked the first Diwali when every district was free of Naxalism, describing the outcome as a national achievement attributable substantially to the sacrifices of security personnel.
That sweeping assessment reflected the government's position on the insurgency. It did not remove the distinction Modi himself drew between the claimed defeat of armed groups and what he described as a continuing ideological threat. His speech combined praise for counterinsurgency operations with criticism of earlier administrations, which he accused of limiting the freedom of security forces to act.
He said his government had empowered personnel to make operational decisions and had worked to disrupt the support networks sustaining Maoist violence. The address also referred to efforts to improve conditions in areas affected by the insurgency and to draw local communities towards government programmes.
The Bastar event brought together personnel from forces involved in internal security operations. Modi acknowledged the contributions of the Central Reserve Police Force, its CoBRA commandos, the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, state police units and specialised local formations.
The dispute also exposed contrasting interpretations of the occasion. For the government, the visit celebrated the conclusion of a security campaign. For Congress, the objection concerned the Prime Minister’s decision to introduce accusations about political organisations while addressing personnel during Diwali.
He also extended Diwali greetings to personnel deployed along the country's borders, saying those serving away from their families were part of his own extended family. The Prime Minister's Office described the Karanpur base as a launch point for operations in Bastar and Abujhmad.