Former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent remarks targeting the Opposition, saying he was “happy” and “proud” to be called a “Dimagi Naxal” and describing the “Naraaz Fufa” remark as meaningless.
Speaking about PM Modi's recent remarks, Chidambaram said, “I'm happy that I'm not a Bewakoof Naxal. I'm happy that I am a Dimagi Naxal.”
Calling the Prime Minister a “self-confessed poet”, Chidambaram said PM Modi often coins slogans and expressions and later translates them into English. “He is a self-confessed poet. He writes poetry in Gujarati. I think he coins these words in Gujarati and translates them into English. I read the translation into English, but this is his way,” Chidambaram told ANI.
“He started by saying, ‘acche din aane wale hain’. Then I counted the slogans he had coined. I think there are something like 20-25 slogans in the last 12 years. The latest two are the ‘Dimagi Naxal’ and ‘Naraaz Fufa’", he added.
Chidambaram said the remarks were being widely discussed on social media, particularly among Gen Z users. “Tomorrow, he will say something. At the BRICS Summit, he will say something. But these are meaningless. I am told that Gen Z has made a lot of memes on ‘Naraaz Fufa’ and ‘Dimagi Naxal’. When I tweeted that I'm proud to be a Dimagi Naxal, the likes were 5.5 million,” Chidambaram said.
“I don't know whether all of them claim to be Dimagi Naxals, but at least a substantial number of them liked the tweet, which means they are also Dimagi Naxals,” he added.
Chidambaram's remarks came after PM Modi, in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort, urged people and authorities to “identify and isolate” those with a “dimagi naxal” or ideological Naxal mindset.
The Prime Minister had said that government action since 2014 had largely ended the jungle insurgency, which had claimed the lives of more than 3,500 security personnel. However, he alleged that people with a “Maoist mentality” had earlier held positions in government committees and influenced policy. PM Modi said that while armed Maoist violence was “breathing its last”, an ideological Naxal mindset continued to exist in some institutions and warned against allowing it to influence the country's youth. Chidambaram had earlier responded to the Prime Minister's remarks in a post on X, saying, “I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!”
Meanwhile, addressing a ‘NaMo for Viksit Bharat’ event in Vadodara on Tuesday, PM Modi took a jibe at the Opposition while highlighting the benefits of double-stack container freight trains, referring to critics as the “naraaz fufa” who would question the impact of the Dedicated Freight Corridor on truck drivers.
"Recently, a double-stack container freight train was operated from JNPT (Mumbai) to Vadodara—meaning the train ran with one container stacked on top of another. With this single trip, the volume of cargo transported from Mumbai to Vadodara was equivalent to that of over 250 trucks. Now, enter the 'naraaz fufa' figure—the one who will immediately start complaining: "What about the truck drivers? Where will the trucks go? What will happen to those who bought trucks?" Well, 'fufa' has found something to grumble about now,” he said.
Earlier, PM Modi had also used the expression “Naraaz fufa" while addressing the centenary celebrations of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), describing critics of government initiatives as people who oppose every new project. "When we were building the world's tallest statue, the 'Phoofas' braced themselves and said, 'What is the need for this?' We started work on high-speed trains, the 'Phoofas' spoke up again: 'What is the need for this?'" he said. Talking about UPI, PM Modi said, "We brought UPI, and these same 'Phoofas' would say: 'Why UPI? What is the need for UPI?'" He said India had responded to the critics and asserted that “no one can stop India from doing what is necessary for the country”. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
