Shah to Rahul: Do you support ‘urban Naxals’?

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday asked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi if he or his party supported the “urban Naxals” who, he said, were “plotting to assassinate” prime minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP chief was addressing a gathering of booth-level party workers in Raipur in preparations for the assembly polls due later this year. “The BJP government in Maharashtra had recently arrested urban Maoists. Then, questions were raised that why they were arrested as they have a right to speak. Shouldn’t those possessing mortar and plotting to assassinate the prime minister be arrested,” he said.

“The Congress president should make clear his party’s stand on the Maoist issue in pollbound Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan,” he said.

Shah’s statements come days after the arrests of five activists in connection with violence in Bhima Koregaon during a Dalit gathering this January.

The activists, who police say are linked to banned Maoist groups, have denied the charges levelled against them by the Maharashtra police and a case against the arrests is going on in apex court.

Amit Shah lauded Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh’s government for its efforts in eliminating the menace of Naxalism from Chhattisgarh.

“Amit Shah should check the records of the last four years and tell us how many infiltrators were thrown out by their government and then compare the records of Congress party, which is pioneer in checking infiltration. Secondly, Chhattisgarh Congress lost senior leaders while countering Maoism...,” said RP Singh, state Congress spokesperson.

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