A day after Union minister Arun Jaitley stated that Congress had aligned with Maoists in recent Chhattisgarh elections, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel hit back Monday, asking whether the BJP forgot the 2013 pre-poll "supari killings" of Congress leaders by ultras in Jhiram Valley of the state.
Baghel also dismissed Jaitley's allegations as absurd and baseless.
In the post titled 'Institutions Under Attack - The Latest Fabrication', Jaitley said it is time to protect the country as well as its institutions from 'institution wreckers'.
"The Congress aligned with the Maoist in the recent Chhattisgarh elections. Rahul Gandhi stood shoulder to shoulder with the 'Tukde Tukde' gang at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The Congress was in the forefront of defending the urban naxals in court," he stated.
Slamming Jaitley, Baghel termed him as a "blog mantri" and recalled the 2013 Jhiram Valley incident in which top leaders of the Chhattisgarh Congress were killed by ultras.
"Jhiram ka naam to suna hoga? 2013 me vidhasabha chunav se pahle naxaliyoke sahyog se hui supari killing kya bhool gaye aap ? Hamare sabhi netao ka naam puchh puchh kar naxaliyo ne unhe mara tha. (Must have heard the name of Jhiram? Did you forget the 'Supari (contract) killing' just before elections with support of naxalites in 2013? The Naxalites had killed our all leaders after asking their names)," the CM said in a tweet written in Hindi.
He stated 31 Congress leaders, including Mahendra bhaiya (Mahendra Karma), Nandu bhaiya (Nandkumar Patel) and Vidya bhaiya (Vidyacharan Shukla) were martyred.
"...And you are raising awful, absurd and baseless allegations of nexus with naxalites on us? The alliance of Congress is with state farmers, tribals, women and youth, understand? Sir, do not insult the great people and democracy of Chhattisgarh. Rest Get Well Soon," he said in another tweet.
Reacting to the CM's tweet, Chhattisgarh BJP accused the Congress of being in cahoots with naxals and anti-nationals.
"Congress is hand in glove with naxals and anti-nationals. That's why, Congress leaders' connection with urban naxals stood exposed. Naxals who fire bullets on jawans were seen as revolutionaries. They don't have shame that to hide truth, they practice politics on the victims of Jhiram," the BJP posted on its twitter account.
Chhattisgarh has been struggling with the menace of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) over the last three decades.
Naxals have executed several deadly incidents in the Bastar division located in southern part of the state.
On May 25, 2013,31 people, including the then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, his son Dinesh, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma and former Union Minister Vidyacharan Shukla, were killed in thenaxalattackin Bastar district.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress dislodged the BJP from power after a gap of 15 years.
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