PM Modi's assassination threat should be taken seriously: Union Min

After the news of alleged Maoists leaders' letters which described the possible assassination plot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister R.K. Singh on Friday said that the former in under threat and the matter should be taken seriously.

"Prime Minister is under threat now; the matter should be taken seriously. Those who don't want India to emerge as a powerful nation have become uncomfortable as they know India can only become powerful under his leadership," Singh told ANI.

On Thursday, the Pune police told a court that they were in possession of a letter, seized from the residence of one of the five people who have been arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence, which talks about the assassination of Prime Minister Modi in Rajiv Gandhi-type incident.

"Modi-led Hindu fascism is bulldozing its way into the lives of indigenous Adivasis. In spite of big defeats like Bihar and West Bengal, Modi has successfully established BJP government in more than 15 states. If this pace continues, then it would mean immense trouble for the party.... Comrade Kisan and few other senior comrades have proposed concrete steps to end Modi-raj," the letter read.

"We are thinking along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi type incident," it added.

In the letter, it was also written that for Maoists, "defeating Hindu fascism has been our core agenda and a major concern for the party". The assassination plot's revelation has generated reactions across the political spectrum.

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, while on a campaign trail in Tamil Nadu, was assassinated on May 21, 1991, by a LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) suicide bomber, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, who detonated herself while greeting him with a garland.