'Maoists primarily targeting Congress leaders', says Ahmed Patel hitting back at BJP's 'Urban naxals' support charge

A day ahead of the much-awaited first phase of Chhattisgarh polls for 18 seats, when yet another Maoist attack was witnessed in the state, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over their stand on Maoists and Naxalites, claiming they had themselves joined hands with such outfits in other states in the past.

Stating that his party had lost the 2013 elections due to the Naxal attacks, the MP from Gujarat mentioned that similar attacks are still taking place under the present government, and most of the attacks have been on the leaders of the Congress party. His Twitter message read,

On Sunday morning, a Maoist was gunned down and another one was captured by the security forces after an encounter in the Bijapur district in the state. Further, in an attempt to disrupt the upcoming elections in Chhattisgarh, the Maoists dug dozens of pits in several parts of the state and issued slogans and warnings to boycott the elections. 

They had also placed a set of 6 IEDs in several parts of the state including Gome and Gattakal villages in Koyalibeda district, while also putting out a letter regarding the elections, which read, "Ban the fake assembly elections in Chhattisgarh."

READ: Day Before Chhattisgarh Polls, Maoists Trigger Six IED Explosions And Call For Poll Boycott. Encounter Breaks Out In Bijapur

The BJP has come out all guns blazing against Congress in the past few weeks, accusing them of being sympathetic towards Maoists, who have been behind as many as five attacks on security forces in the past one month, including the recent-most IED explosions on Sunday which resulted in the martyrdom of a BSF personnel.

During his rally in the Jagdalpur district of the state, PM Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party while terming Maoists' actions as a menace to the society. On Friday, he said,

"Kids who should have had pencils in their hands, these people(Maoists) give guns in their hands. They ruin their lives and destroy the dreams of their parents. These people with destructive ideology burn schools and damage hospitals. You must have seen there are urban naxals who are living in cities in air conditioned houses, look cleans and their children live abroad but they ruined kids of rural areas. There are political parties who are helping urban naxals but giving gyaans in rural areas against Maoists. Can we forgive such poeple?"