I am proud to be a dimagi naxal, says Chidambaram

New Delhi

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi described “dimagi Naxalism” as a challenge that continued to look for opportunities to promote violence, unrest and disorder in the country, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Sunday said that he was “proud” to be called a ‘dimagi Naxal’. Reacting to the Prime Minister’s remarks, Chidambaram took to the social media platform X and posted, “I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!” PM Modi, while addressing the nation from the historic ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, said that India had made significant progress in weakening armed Naxalism but cautioned that a more subtle form of the ideology, which he termed “dimagi Naxalism”, continued to pose a challenge.

“We have succeeded in getting rid of armed Naxals in the jungles, but ‘dimagi Naxals’ (those with a Naxal mindset) are looking for opportunities to create violence, unrest… They want to drag society on the wrong path. These ‘dimagi Naxals’ have to be identified and isolated, and we must connect the youth with the mainstream,” PM Modi said. His remarks triggered a sharp political reaction from the Congress, which accused the Prime Minister of using increasingly provocative labels against his political opponents and said the comments reflected political desperation. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also criticised PM Modi over his use of the term and drew a comparison with his earlier references to “urban Naxals”. In a post on X, Ramesh said, “First he called his opponents ‘urban naxals’. Now he calls them ‘dimaagi naxals’. It is a sure sign of his desperation.”

The Congress leader further alleged that the Prime Minister ultimately ends up supporting or implementing several positions that he claimed were advocated by those labelled as “urban Naxals” or “dimaagi Naxals”. “It is a separate matter that he ends up doing whatever these so-called ‘urban naxals’ or now ‘dimaagi naxals’ are demanding or advocating. It is not for nothing that the PM has a MA being the Master Abuser in entire political science that he is,” Ramesh added.