'Urban Naxals' trying to enter Gujarat: Modi targets AAP

Vadodara: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said 'urban Naxals' were trying to enter Gujarat by changing their appearance, but the state will destroy them. The PM was speaking after laying the foundation stone of the country's first bulk drug park in Gujarat's Bharuch district.

Modi said that urban Naxals are trying to enter the state with new appearances. "They have changed their costumes. They are misleading our innocent and energetic youth into following them," he said.

"The urban Naxals are setting foot from above. We won't let them destroy our young generation. We should warn our children against the urban Naxals who have taken up the task of destroying the country. They are agents of foreign powers. Gujarat will not bow down its head against them, Gujarat will destroy them," he said in a veiled attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is trying to make inroads into BJP-ruled Gujarat where the Assembly polls are due later this year. 'Urban Naxal' term is often used by some segments of the political spectrum to describe sympathisers of the Naxalism cause as well as certain social activists. Modi said that "people with Naxal mentality" tried their best to stop the Sardar Sarovar dam project. He had last month alleged that "urban Naxals and anti-development elements" with political backing had stalled the construction of Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river in Gujarat for many years by running a campaign that it would harm the environment.