Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on August 15, Modi said that while armed Naxalism had weakened, people with a “Naxal mentality” continued to pose a threat. “We have to find and isolate these dimagi naxals,” he said.
Modi said ideological Naxals were “waiting for opportunities” and attempting to revive “violence and anarchy”. Referring to the decades-long conflict with Naxalism, he said, “Naxalism and Maoism have destroyed the future of millions of young people.”
Chidambaram responded on X on August 16, writing, “I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!”, with Mahua Moitra reiterating the Congress leader’s remarks.
In another post, Chidambaram wrote, “‘Dimagi Naxals’ is the new variant of the old BJP accusations of urban naxals, Andolanjeevi and tukde tukde gang.” He added, ” Who were the urban naxals? Who were the andolanjeevis ? Who were the tukde tukde gang? The old abuses were directed against the members of the Opposition”. and that “Dimagi naxals is new variant of the abuses.”
Kejriwal also embraced the label, saying he was proud to be a “dimagi Naxal”. He argued that people who question the government and seek a better system without corruption should not be described in those terms. Kejriwal invoked Bhagat Singh and B R Ambedkar, saying they too could have been labelled “dimagi Naxals” for challenging authority.
Calling himself a “true patriot”, Kejriwal said he was not afraid of the BJP and would oppose anyone who spoke against India.
BJP hits back at Chidambaram
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said Chidambaram’s response was “very unfortunate & highly damaging”, arguing that Modi had not called opposition leaders “dimagi Naxals”.
Rijiju said the term referred to those who “support Maoists and reject Indian Constitution”, “stand with separatists and support Article 370” or “want to cut chicken neck to separate North-East from India.”
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also questioned Chidambaram’s response, recalling former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s 2006 statement that Naxalism was the “single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country”.
“We are surprised that within 24 hours of this, Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that he is proud of being a ‘Dimagi Naxal’,” Trivedi said. He asked Congress, “who was right, Dr Manmohan Singh or P Chidambaram?”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went further, saying, “P Chidambaram is not a ‘Dimaagi Naxal’ but a pure Naxal.”
Story continues below this ad
Sarma also said that since Chidambaram had served as Union Home Minister and had now called himself a “Dimaagi Naxal”, an inquiry should examine whether he deliberately failed to act against Naxalism during his tenure.
Speaking in Patn ato the press, BJP MP Ravishankar Prasad also targeted the former Congress minister Sunday, saying, “Mr Chidambaram, what do you mean by this utterly irresponsible comment? You speak such sophisticated English; surely, you understood what the Prime Minister said and the context in which he said it?”
“The Prime Minister’s point was that, thanks to the visionary policies of the Modi government and Amit Shah, Naxalism and Maoism have been eliminated”, he added.
‘Paper leak Naxal’ counter
Indian Youth Congress national president Uday Bhanu Chib sought to turn the phrase back on the government, saying the focus should instead be on what he called the “paper leak Naxal” menace.
“The truth is that the government and the country need to catch and eliminate the ‘paper leak Naxal’ menace. But Prime Minister Modi is pursuing the idea of ‘Dimagi Naxal’ instead,” Chib said.
He argued that the government should focus on examination irregularities and paper leaks, pointing to the National Testing Agency taking two months to acknowledge mistakes that required three papers to be conducted again.
Meanwhile, the BJP also reposted an old video of Chidambaram from his tenure as Home Minister, highlighting his position on talks with Naxalites. In the video, Chidambaram says, “i was the first minister of this govt to say that we are ready for talks.”
Story continues below this ad
He also said, “We are not asking you to lay down arms. Because we know you won’t do that.”
The BJP accompanied the video with figures on deaths linked to Naxal violence during the UPA era and criticised Chidambaram’s approach to the conflict.
‘Cockroaches and Dimagi Naxals’
Responding to the prime minister’s remark, TMC MP Mahua Moitra also posted on her X handle, “I am a Dimagi Naxal. All cockroaches by definition are”, allegedly connecting the PM’s statement to the youth that participated in the recently risen Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, and that eventually led to the resignation of the former Union Minister of Education Dharmenra Pradhan in connection with irregularities in the education system, and paper leaks including the NEET-UG 2026.
Taking a swipe at the remark, Moitra said at least there were no “dimagi bhakts” anywhere.
“At least we are safe in the knowledge that there are no Dimagi Bhakts anywhere. Aaj tak ek bhi paida nahi hua,” she said.
Story continues below this ad
Responding to a question on the same, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said the Prime Minister should focus on governance rather than labelling groups. Das said today’s youth were seeking answers on education, health, examinations and jobs, adding that “name calling will not solve problems”.
He said the country needed “answers, accountability and better governance”, and argued that the youth understood the issues affecting them.
The exchange has turned PM Modi’s remark into a wider political confrontation, with Opposition leaders adopting the label as a rebuttal while BJP leaders argue that the term was aimed at ideological supporters of Maoism rather than opposition politicians.
