New Delhi, Dec 23 As BJP National President J.P. Nadda alleged internal collusion within the Congress party in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha on Tuesday said the charge was extremely serious and must be backed by concrete evidence.
Reacting sharply to Nadda’s statement, Jha said that merely making political allegations was not acceptable, especially when the BJP is in power at both the Centre and in Chhattisgarh. He stressed that if the claim was true, the government must place all relevant evidence in the public domain.
This comes after J.P. Nadda made the allegation while addressing the ‘Janadesh Parab’ programme marking two years of the Vishnu Deo Sai-led BJP government in Chhattisgarh. His remarks provoked strong reactions from Congress leaders, including former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Addressing a large gathering at the Khokhra Police Ground in Janjgir-Champa district, Nadda claimed that the movement details of senior Congress leaders were leaked from within the party, which enabled Maoists to carry out the deadly ambush.
The union minister alleged that the Congress had a history of proximity to extremist elements and asserted that the present 'double-engine' BJP government was committed to eradicating Maoism from the state by March 2026.
Speaking to IANS, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said, “This is a very serious allegation. You are saying Congress people killed Congress people. You are part of the government; if this is true, then present the evidence. Do not just make a political statement and move on.”
He further said that selective questioning was unfair and added that similar scrutiny should be applied to other incidents as well.
“Then I will also ask a series of questions, like what happened in Pahalgam? What happened in Pulwama? Did we know anything about it? These are also serious incidents that deserve answers,” Jha said.
The Jhiram Ghati attack remains one of the deadliest Maoist assaults in the country’s political history. On May 25, 2013, Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders during the party’s ‘Parivartan Rally’ in the Jhiram valley of Chhattisgarh, ahead of the Assembly elections. At least 32 people were killed in the attack, including then state Congress president Nand Kumar Patel, former Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma and former Union Minister Vidyacharan Shukla.
Reacting to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks made in Germany that “China has shown the world the direction of production”, Jha defended the statement and questioned the backlash over it.
“Why is there such an uproar just because Rahul Gandhi said this? Is it not a reality? Shouldn’t the Leader of the Opposition, or any political leader, be concerned about why things that were possible in our country are now moving to China?” he told IANS.
He said the issue should be seen as an opportunity for introspection.
“This question should be taken as a creative opportunity for us. I think by evening, there will be a debate, labelling it as a pro-China statement. Sometimes, ignoring implicit realities is an indication of foolishness,” Jha added.
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