PM Modi celebrates Diwali with security forces in Bastar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with security personnel at the CoBRA Operations Base at Karanpur in Chhattisgarh, on Sunday, describing the occasion as special as it marked the first festival of lights after the country’s decades-long fight against Maoist insurgency.

Addressing personnel at the base, which served as a training centre and launch pad for counter-Naxal operations in Bastar and Abujhmad, Modi thanked security forces for their sacrifices and said the country was indebted to them.

He recalled celebrating Diwali with soldiers at several locations, including Kargil, Lepcha in the Himalayas, Sir Creek and aboard INS Vikrant.

“All of you are a part of my family,” he said, addressing personnel deployed to protect the country.

Modi said the government had succeeded in making every district free of Naxalism, allowing millions of people to live without fear. He said he had come to Bastar to express the gratitude of 1.4 billion Indians to the security personnel who contributed to the achievement.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to personnel of the CRPF, CoBRA, BSF, ITBP, SSB, state police forces and Bastar Fighters, including women commandos.

Recalling the scale of Left-Wing Extremism in the past, Modi said it had affected more than 230 districts across nearly 20 states. He said violence had claimed the lives of more than 1,000 security personnel in Chhattisgarh alone, while civilians had also suffered heavily.

Referring to the 2010 Dantewada attacks, he recalled the killing of 76 CRPF personnel and 44 civilians in separate incidents.

Modi said the security situation had changed since 2014, crediting the government’s policies and the determination of security forces. He also claimed that, for the first time in 47 years, no CRPF personnel had been killed on duty during the past year.

He said the government had given security forces operational freedom and taken steps to disrupt the financial networks, weapons supply chains and recruitment systems of Maoist groups.

The Prime Minister said security operations had been accompanied by development initiatives in affected areas, with the aim of preventing young people from taking up arms and ensuring that families did not lose their loved ones to violence.

He also linked the decline of Naxalism with the government’s poverty reduction efforts, citing a World Bank report which, he said, showed that 50 crore people had moved out of extreme poverty over the past 12 years.

Listing welfare schemes, including Jan Dhan, PM Awas Yojana, Mudra loans, Ayushman Bharat and free foodgrain distribution, Modi said these initiatives had improved the lives of poor families.

He said development projects in Naxal-affected areas had included more than 15,000 km of roads, 9,500 mobile towers, nearly 175 Eklavya schools, 50 industrial training institutes and 50 skill development centres.

The government had also expanded access to banking, electricity, drinking water and other basic services in remote tribal areas, he added.

Referring to the Bastar Olympics, Modi said the event reflected the changing aspirations of young people in the region.

“Today in this very Bastar, the Bastar Olympics are taking place, and children are trying their hand at sports, not guns,” he said.

The Prime Minister urged security personnel and citizens to continue working towards building a developed India, free from poverty and drugs.

He said the country’s achievements in tackling Naxalism should be seen as a new beginning rather than the end of the journey.

Modi concluded by extending Diwali greetings to security personnel and their families, saying their sacrifices would help build a developed and self-reliant India

Despite repeated appeals for unity by senior leaders on the dais, signs of factional differences within the Congress were visible during the party’s ‘Insaf Rally’ in Sangrur on Wednesday.

The differences came to the fore when former Punjab Chief Minister and MP Charanjit Singh Channi began addressing party workers. Supporters raised loud slogans in his favour, drawing attention to the factional dynamics within the state unit.

The slogan-shouting appeared to annoy Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier advised party leaders against factionalism and urged them to discourage workers from raising slogans in support of individual leaders.

Rahul Gandhi was later seen discussing something with Channi and Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, on the dais. However, none of the three leaders confirmed what they had discussed.

The episode highlighted the challenges facing the Congress in presenting a united front as it seeks to strengthen its position in Punjab ahead of the next Assembly elections.