New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Naxalism was being wiped out from the jungles, but expressed concern that it
was fast spreading roots in urban areas with some political parties also echoing their ideology.
Addressing the Republic Plenary Summit organised by the news channel here, Modi also targeted the Congress saying it had crushed the aspirations of people, who also stopped expecting much from the party.
He said things have now changed and the people’s aspirations were rising in the past decade since his government came to power.
“Today’s India thinks big, sets big targets and delivers big results. It is because the mentality of the country has changed. The country is moving ahead with big aspirations,” Modi said.
“In the past decade, we have transformed impact-less administration into impactful governance,” he asserted.
Modi said the youth are the X-factor of today’s India, adding that the ‘X’ stands for experimentation, excellence, and expansion. The prime minister said the government has worked hard on the security front and terror attacks and sleeper cells of terrorists have disappeared from television headlines as well as the country.
“Naxalism in the country is also on its last legs. In the past, over 100 districts were severely affected by this menace. However, this number has drastically reduced to just around two dozen districts
today,” Modi said. He said this was made possible after the government focused on delivering governance at the grassroots level.
“While Naxalism is steadily being eradicated from jungles due to decisive actions, it is beginning to spread its roots into urban centres, presenting a new challenge,” Modi said.
“Urban Naxals have cast their net so fast that a political party that opposed urban Naxals, was inspired by the thoughts of Gandhiji and had its pulse on the people, was now echoing their views,” he said.
“Urban Naxals have entrenched themselves in such political parties. Today, we
can hear the voice of urban Naxals in these political parties. We can imagine how deep their roots go,” Modi said in an apparent reference to the Congress party.
“We have to remember that urban Naxals are strongly opposed to our development and heritage,” he said.