'Protectors turned predators': Nadda accuses Congress of colluding with Naxalites during 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack
Union Health Minister and BJP President J P Nadda on Monday targeted the Congress, accusing some party insiders of facilitating the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Naxal attack, which led to the killing of its state leaders. Addressing the 'Janadesh Parab' (people's mandate festival) event held to mark the completion of two years of the Vishnu Deo Sai-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh, Nadda alleged, Today, I say this with great responsibility that no one else was providing information and inside details about the Jhiram Valley incident. People from within were involved in getting their own people killed, and they were in contact with Naxalites. When protectors turn predators, the common people suffer the most, he added. Nadda said he was in charge of the BJP for Chhattisgarh during the 2013 Jhiram Valley naxal attack and closely witnessed developments related to it. On May 25, 2013, Maoists attacked a convoy of Congress leaders during the party's 'Parivartan Rally' ahead of the assembly elections in the Jhiram valley in Bastar district, killing 32 people, including then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, former leader of opposition Mahendra Karma, and former union minister Vidyacharan Shukla. Further alleging that the previous Congress governments had colluded with the Naxalites, Nadda claimed that the double-engine government under PM Narendra Modi confronted Left-wing extremism head-on. Nearly 2,500 Naxalites have surrendered in the last two years, 1,853 have been arrested, and top leaders such as Hidma and Basavaraju have been neutralised, he said. Under Modi's leadership, the double-engine government acted decisively, and under Sai's leadership, it was firmly implemented on the ground. In the coming time, Naxalism will be uprooted and eliminated, he said. Targeting the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government, he said, people still remember the corruption in administration, failure to deliver on its promises, and the appeasement policy. The biggest problem was an understanding with Naxalism, the BJP leader reiterated. He added that the public had uprooted such an ineffective and deceitful government in the 2023 assembly elections and voted the BJP to power. (With inputs from PTI)
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