NEW DELHI: Decisive government actions have cleared Naxalism from jungles but the threat of urban Naxals is growing and they have “rapidly infiltrated” political parties, PM Narendra Modi said on Thursday. The voices and language of urban Naxals are now heard within these parties, indicating their deep-rooted presence, he said.
Naxalism is in its final phase, with affected districts reduced from more than 100 to fewer than 24 in the past decade, the PM said as he credited decisive governance, infrastructure expansion and grassroots development for neutralising the insurgency.
Warning of the new challenge posed by urban Naxals, the PM said once on the fringes, they are now “shaping narratives within parties that were once rooted in Gandhian ideology”. “Their influence threatens both India’s development and heritage,” Modi said at a media event here. He also underscored that the ideological extremism is also gaining ground in intellectual spaces. Highlighting India’s remarkable economic strides, Modi said even 65 years after independence, the country was the world’s 11th-largest economy, but in the past decade, it has become the fifth-largest economy and is now rapidly moving towards becoming the third-largest economy.
He recalled that in 2007, India’s GDP reached $1 trillion annually, whereas today, the same amount is generated every quarter, reflecting the nation’s accelerating growth. In addition, he said, 25 crore people have been lifted out of poverty and Rs 42 lakh crore has been directly transferred to beneficiaries through DBT, ensuring transparency and eliminating corruption leakages.
Modi also detailed India’s rise in global industries. “From importing rifles, we now export defence equipment 20 times more than before. Solar energy capacity has increased 30 times, and toy exports have tripled,” he said. Infrastructure investment has seen a five-fold boost, doubling the number of airports and tripling the number of AIIMS institutions. The startup ecosystem has flourished, and India now ranks among the top three in the world for new businesses, Modi said.