New Delhi [India], August 24 (ANI): The political row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Dimaagi Naxal" remark intensified on Monday as senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram launched a sharp counterattack on Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, rejecting his explanation that the Prime Minister's comment was not directed at the Opposition and demanding to know who the term was actually aimed at.
Speaking to ANI, Chidambaram defended his recent viral social media post declaring himself a "proud Dimaagi Naxal", asserting that the ruling dispensation has repeatedly coined various derogatory labels to target opposition voices.
"What is a Dimagi Naxal? Let them define that. Kiren Rijiju came up with a lame excuse that when the Prime Minister said Dimagi Naxal, he did not refer to the opposition. All right, we'll accept that. Who did he refer to? He should say that positively. Who was he referring to as Dimagi Naxal? They called us urban Naxals. They called us anti-national. They called us the tukde-tukde gang. They're calling us Dimagi Naxals. Who were the urban Naxals? Who were the tukde-tukde gang? Who were the anti-nationals? Who were the Dimagi Naxals? It's all different words for the opposition. They are only referring to the opposition parties and leaders of the opposition parties. Therefore, I'm a member of the opposition party. I said that I'm proud to be an urban Naxal. A lot of people in this country are proud to be intellectual Naxals. At least they concede that we are not 'bewakoof'," Chidambaram said.
Turning his focus to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's sit-in protest at the Parliament police station in the national capital to get an FIR registered in the pellet gun injury case, he stated that Rahul Gandhi was completely justified in holding the Union Home Ministry accountable for the administrative delay.
"Rahul Gandhi was perfectly right in questioning the Home Minister. The victim went from police station to police station, and no FIR was registered. The law declared by the Supreme Court is that for every complaint of a criminal offence, an FIR must be registered, and when Mr Rahul Gandhi accompanied the victim and went to the police station, they took 7 hours to register an FIR. 30 days, and then an FIR. That shows that somebody from the top is giving instructions to the police station that don't register an FIR. Therefore, I think what Rahul Gandhi did was the right thing and the power of satyagraha prevailed. Finally, they had to register an FIR," Chidambaram said.
Weighing in on the implementation of the women's reservation bill, the Congress leader accused the Narendra Modi government of creating artificial hurdles by tying its execution to the delimitation exercise.
"What has women's reservation got to do with delimitation? The 106th Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed in 2023, which allows for women's reservation in the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats. Why don't they implement that immediately? Why do they want to bring another bill for women's reservation? They are unnecessarily and mischievously linking women's reservation," he added.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 16 to expand the Lok Sabha's strength to 850 seats and expedite the implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill passed in 2023. However, the bill was not passed as it failed to secure the constitutionally required special two-thirds majority of members present and voting in Parliament. (ANI)
'Who was PM referring to if not Opposition?': P Chidambaram attacks Rijiju, defends 'Proud Dimaagi Naxal' post
