Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched a sharp counter-attack against senior Indian National Congress (Congress) leader P. Chidambaram after he publicly declared he was 'proud to be a Dimagi Naxal' — a term Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced during his Independence Day address. The BJP asserted that the Maoist threat, which it claims Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments failed to contain, had been decisively brought under control under the current dispensation.

BJP's Press Conference: Key Charges

BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, questioned Congress's stance on Left-Wing Extremism. He drew a pointed contrast between Chidambaram's remark and a 2006 statement by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had described Naxalism as the country's 'single biggest internal security challenge.'

'PM Modi had raised an important topic of 'Dimagi Naxal' during his Independence Day address. However, we are shocked that within 24 hours of this, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said that he is proud of being a 'Dimagi Naxal',' Trivedi said.

He pressed Congress directly: 'I want to ask the Congress, who was right, Dr Manmohan Singh or P. Chidambaram?'

Scale of Maoist Threat Under UPA: BJP's Claims

Trivedi cited figures he attributed to the period when Chidambaram was associated with the Union government. According to the BJP spokesperson, more than 5,000 civilians lost their lives and 1,913 security personnel were killed in anti-Naxal operations during that period. He further claimed that 180 districts were affected by Naxalism and that over 92 per cent of weapons held by Naxals had been looted from police forces.

He also invoked the 2010 Dantewada attack, in which more than 75 CRPF personnel lost their lives, and alleged that celebrations were held at a prominent university in the national capital in its aftermath — which he described as emblematic of what he called 'Dimagi Naxalism.'

Trivedi further claimed that Maoist influence had extended across a so-called 'Red Corridor' stretching 'from Pashupati to Tirupati' during the UPA years.

Modi Government's Claimed Record

The BJP spokesperson asserted that the number of Naxal-affected districts had fallen from 180 to zero under the current government, with the Maoist threat decisively curbed by 31 March this year, according to his claims. He cited development and connectivity initiatives in formerly affected regions, including the opening of more than 1,800 bank branches, 1,200 ATMs, and the installation of over 6,000 mobile towers.

'The problems which Congress governments failed to eliminate have been decisively brought under control by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,' Trivedi said.

Chidambaram's Response and the Broader Political Row

Chidambaram had taken to social media to respond to the Prime Minister's Independence Day remarks, posting that he was 'proud to be a Dimagi Naxal.' The former Union Finance Minister subsequently described the term as the 'new variant' in a series of political labels the BJP has directed at the Opposition — listing earlier epithets including 'urban naxals,' 'andolanjeevis,' and the 'tukde tukde gang.'

The exchange signals a sharp escalation in the political vocabulary around dissent and internal security ahead of upcoming legislative sessions, with both sides seeking to define the terms of the debate.