Cong backing urban Maoists: PM

Jagdalpur, November 9 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Congress of backing urban Maoists who, he said, had ruined the lives of the poor Adivasi youth. 

Addressing his first election rally, he also claimed the Congress made “fun” of Adivasis (tribals). Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly are to be held in two phases on November 12 and November 20.

“Once I had gone for a rally in North-East India and wore a traditional Adivasi headgear. The Congress leaders made fun of it. This was an insult to the Adivasi culture,” he said. 

Claiming the Ajit Jogi-led Congress government (2000 to 2003) did not do enough to develop the Naxal-infested Bastar region, the Prime Minister vowed not to rest till he had fulfilled the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of a prosperous Chhattisgarh. 

“The urban Maoists who live in air-conditioned homes in the cities and whose children study abroad remote-control the Adivasi children in the Naxal-dominated areas. I want to ask the Congress why it supports the urban Maoists when the government takes action against them?” 

Describing Naxals as “monsters with an evil mindset”, the PM appealed to the voters to ensure that the BJP won all seats in Bastar region. Claiming no other PM had visited Bastar as often as he had, he said: “I have not come empty-handed but given you some schemes and development programmes. We are working hard to eradicate unemployment, poverty and hunger in the region.” 

Stakes are high for the BJP on the 18 seats that go to the polls in the first phase on November 12 as it had lost 12 of them in the last polls in 2013. In the 2013 Assembly polls, of the total 90 seats, the BJP had won 49 seats, Congress 39, BSP one and Independent one. — PTI