Rahul accuses PM Modi of insulting Cong leaders with 'urban Naxals' remark

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by accusing him of insulting Congress leaders like Mahendra Karma and Narendra Kumar Patel, who fell to the bullets of Naxals in Chhattisgarh. "Our leaders in Chhattisgarh have made the real sacrifice by standing up against the menace of Naxals," said Gandhi, while addressing a poll rally at Naxal-affected Jagdalpur.

"A few days back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about Naxals. But the real sacrifice was made by the leaders of Congress party. Our people have sacrificed their lives for the country and Chhattisgarh as well. Congress leaders like Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel lost their lives here. By his statement, the Prime Minister has insulted Karma ji and Patel ji."

Only recently Prime Minister Modi had accused the Congress of backing "urban Naxals" who, he said, have ruined the lives of poor Adivasi youths in Chhattisgarh. During a rally at Jagdalpur, PM Modi had said: "The urban Maoists, who live in air-conditioned homes in the cities and whose children study abroad, remote control Adivasi children in Naxal-dominated areas. I want to ask the Congress why it supports urban Maoists when the government takes action against them."

It is worth mentioning that in 2013, Naxals attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha Valley in Sukma district which led to 27 deaths, including the killing of former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and Vidya Charan Shukla.

Lashing out at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "The Congress party has many such leaders who have lost their lives fighting against the Britishers. When our leaders were fighting against the Britishers, when Britishers were ruling this country, when all the Congress leaders were in prison, your (Prime Minister Modi) leader Veer Savarkar was folding hands in front of the Britishers."

Coming down heavily on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Gandhi raised the issue of his son's name in the Panama Papers case, asking why no action had been taken against him till now. Gandhi said, "If the Chief Minister doesn't want to answer that, then he should explain to the people of Chhattisgarh why no action has been taken against his son, whose name appeared in the Panama Papers case? In Pakistan, the Prime Minister is jailed because his name appeared in the Panama Papers case."

Mounting attack on Prime Minister Modi over alleged Rafale fighter jet scam, Gandhi said: "At every platform, Prime Minister Modi talks about patriotism, but he is the one who changed the Rafale contract. When the UPA government was in power, the Air Force senior officials proposed the name of Rafale fighter jet but our government put two conditions-the aircraft should be made in India and secondly, the fighter plane should be minimally priced. When Modi came to power at the Centre, they gave the contract to Anil Ambani because he is the Prime Minister Modi's friend. Here, the Prime Minister compromised with the national security."

The election campaigning for the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls will end on Saturday night, 48 hours before the voting on November 12. Chhattisgarh polls will be held in two phases, first phase polling is on November 12 and then on November 20. The counting of votes for both the phases will take place on December 11.