Naxalism flourishes whenever Cong comes to power: Shah

BJP chief Amit Shah Thursday said Naxalism flourishes whenever Congress comes to power, but the menace weakens whenever the party does not rule.

Shah, while addressing a convention of the BJP's booth-level workers here, also said that the air strike by Indian armed forces has sent out a message to the world that no one can violate India's borders.

"When Naxalism took birth in West Bengal, Congress was in power there. Similarly, when Naxalism flourished in Andhra Pradesh, Congress was in power and the same party was ruling, when the menace entered Chhattisgarh," Shah said.

In these states, Naxalism weakened after the Congress moved out of power, he said.

"In Chhattisgarh, after the Raman Singh government came to power, Naxalism vanished...Whenever the Congress comes to power, Naxalism flourishes and whenever it goes out of power, the menace weakens...What is the relation the Congress has with Naxals?" he asked.

"When anti-national slogans were raised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the Congress president had stood in their support which shows his commitment," he added.

"Rahul Gandhi used to ask what Narendra Modi government has done. What the Congress did not do in 55 years of its rule in the country, we did in 55 months. The biggest work our government has done is to safeguard our borders.

"In the 10 years of Sonia-Manmohan rule, anybody infiltrated Indian borders from Pakistan and chopped off heads of our soldiers and insulted them, but there was nobody to give a reply," he said.

"We conducted a surgical strike after Uri (attack). After Pulwama, India conducted the air strike and demolished terror camps in Pakistan. It is the Narendra Modi government which has done this. After the air strike, a message was sent to the world that no one can violate the India's borders. The BJP has shown to the world how a strong nation can be built," he said.

"Before the surgical strike and the air strike, only two nations were there in the world which had avenged the death of their soldiers. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi added India to the list as the third such nation, he said.

Shah added that BJP was committed to construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"BJP is not going to leave its core ideology. We are the people who live along with ideology. People should not have any confusion. BJP is committed to construction of a grand Ram temple at the same place (Ram Janmabhoomi) in Ayodhya at the earliest. But Congress lawyers in Supreme Court seek to postpone this case," he said.

He asked the opposition 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) leaders to clarify before the Lok Sabha elections if they agreed to the construction of Ram temple or not.