Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday criticized the Congress party, pointing out that the root cause of Naxalism in India goes back to the 1970s when Indira Gandhi served as Prime Minister.
Speaking in Lok Sabha, the senior BJP leader stated that the root cause of Naxalism in India was not the demand for development, but the embrace of left-wing ideology.
“I want to say that the main reason for Naxalism is not the demand for development, but the ideology, to win the presidential elections. Since 1970 Indira Ji accepted that because of the Leftist ideology, Naxalism spread,” he said, alleging that Gandhi used the ideology to tilt the 1971 presidential elections in favor of VV Giri.
“Twelve states were affected – Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal, Kerala, parts of Karnataka, and three districts of Uttar Pradesh. A complete ‘Red Corridor’ was formed, and the rule of law ended there. Twelve crore people lived in poverty for years, and no one showed any concern. The lives of thousands of young people were sunk. Many of them became disabled.” Permanently or paralyzed for the rest of their lives, who is responsible for this?
The BJP leader also criticized the Congress party, accusing them of putting aside focus on India’s development.
“For sixty years, you have failed to provide them with homes or access to clean water, not built schools for them, and blocked cellphone towers and banking facilities from reaching their areas, and yet you are now the ones demanding accountability?” Shah said, adding that the development only happened from 2014 onwards, with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
