Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Saturday condemned the recent killings of BJP leaders in Chhattisgarh and claimed that Naxal incidents have increased in the state since the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government came to power.
He was speaking at an event here, a day after suspected Naxalites shot dead BJP leader and village head Sagar Sahu in Narayanpur district. On February 6, the party’s Awapalli Mandal chief Neelkanth Kakem was killed by Naxalites.
“Is it not a fact that Naxalite attacks have increased since Bhupesh Baghel’s government came to power? It exposes the administration here. When Raman Singh (BJP) was in power, there was peace here and the problem of law and order did not exist,” said Nadda.
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Baghel took charge as the CM in December 2018. Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are expected to be held by the end of this year.
“I want to tell the families of the fallen brave soldiers of BJP that your sons are not alone in this fight, the entire 18 crore people of the party are with you,” said the national president of the saffron party.
He called the Congress a synonym for “failure”. It is the policy of the Congress to stall, block and divert work, he said. “On the contrary, we are made for development. They (Congress) block development and their aim is to divide and rule,” he alleged.
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About the tribal-dominated Bastar, Nadda said, “I remember late Rajiv Gandhi (of Congress) and his family used to come here (Bastar) for picnics. When it was very hot there, he used to come here to enjoy the coolness of the forest. When Raman Singh's government came to power, development took place in Bastar.”
As per the National Crime Records Bureau, Nadda said, Chhattisgarh "ranks seventh in terms of rape, fifth in dacoity and second in suicides". The state is in the “second spot” related to narcotics and third in terms of murder cases, he said.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has seen significant development and its reputation has grown globally, said Nadda. “Around 1,200 students from Chhattisgarh were stranded in Ukraine. Modi talked to Putin and Zelenskyy, got the war stopped and 32,000 children of the country safely returned to India. This is the picture of a changing India,” Nadda said.
Exhorting people to vote for the BJP in the state, Nadda said his party has the power and strength to fight the Naxalites.
-With PTI Input
