Congress party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate once again landed in deep water on Wednesday, April 17 after she referred to the Maoists killed in the Kanker encounter as “martyrs”.
Replying to a query in a press conference on Wednesday, Shrinate, while talking about the Kanker incident in Chhattisgarh, where the security forces, in a remarkable achievement against the Maoists, neutralised as many as 29 left-wing terrorists near Binagunda- korgutta forest area under the Chotebethiya police station limits said that the incident should be investigated thoroughly and we sympathies with all those who martyred.
“I dont want to politicise the matter, I think the matter should be investigated thoroughly, and we sympathies with all those who martyred along with the security personnel who have been injured in the attack, there is no question of politics in it,” remarked Shrinate, who also had been on the receiving end after she posted a derogatory post only to delete it later on the Bollywood star and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Mandi of Homanchal, Kangana Ranawat on social media platform X.
The remarks made by Shrinate has now stormed the political galleries, triggering reactions from BJP leaders who have slammed the comments made by the Congress spokesperson. Leading the attack, BJP national spokesperson, Sehzad Poonawala, while slamming the stance of the Congress party, said that the Congress party calls the Maoist, terrorist as Martyrs and put question marks on the army and security personnel.
There was a time when the former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, referred to the Maoist as biggest internal threat of the country, but today we have seen a very important operation that has taken place in Chhattisgarh where 29 Naxalite (Maoist) terrorists were eliminated by the security personnel and this was indeed a big achievement for the security forces. Instead of coming out and welcoming the action of security forces today, the Congress party has done what expected from them but it is unthinkable that they come out and claim that the Maoist are essential martyrs,” said Poonawala.
Media Briefing by BJP National Spokesperson Shri @Shehzad_Ind in New Delhi. https://t.co/1pUnku1gHP
— BJP (@BJP4India) April 18, 2024
The BJP spokesperson, while reminding that Shrinate has been a serial offender, further remarked that the Congress sees martyrs in Naxals but calls the army chief a goon. The BJP spokesperson also slammed the Congress party for not condemning Srinate remarks and said that it indicates that the views expressed by Shrinate are of the Congress party.
Poonwala, further hit out the Congress candidate of north east Delhi, Kanhaiya Kumar and said that it was the same Kanhaiya Kumar who once had remarked that war should be waged against those who are making the Maoist martyr, It was the same Kanhaiya Kumar who had remarked that the Security personnel rape the women. That has become the character of the Congress party and the I.N.D.I allaince.
जिन नक्सलियों ने छत्तीसगढ़ महतारी की धरती को निर्दोष छतीसगढ़ियो के खून से लाल किया है ऐसे बर्बर नक्सलियों को शहीद बताकर छत्तीसगढ़ की जनता, पुलिस बल और लोकतंत्र का मजाक बनाने वाली कांग्रेस की राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ता सुप्रिया श्रीनेत आपका आगमन इस पावन धरती को स्वीकार्य नहीं है।…
— BJP Chhattisgarh (@BJP4CGState) April 18, 2024
Meanwhile, reacting to the comments made by Shrinate, the BJP unit of Chhattisagarh wrote in a post, “Those Naxals who stained the land of Chhattisgarh with the blood of innocent residents of the State have been termed as martyrs by Shrinate, its a mockery of the masses, police force, and democracy, you are not welcomed in this sacred land.”
Baghel changed stance
It is noteworthy that earlier, the former Chief Minister and senior leader of the Congress party, Bhupesh Baghel, also stoked a controversy after the Kanker encounter when he remarked that fake encounters takes place in the BJP regime.
The comments made by Baghel triggered sharp reaction from the BJP leader, including the Deputy Chief Minister (CM), Vijay Sharma who slammed the remarks made by the previous CM.
” Its unfortunate that the former CM has made such comments, I have seen these personnel, are the arms and ammunition seized are all fake, are those Maoist in uniform fake, this is really sad,” said DY CM, Sharma.
नक्सलियों पर वार,बघेल उठाएं सवाल..पहले सवाल,फिर सराहना..देखिए #Naxalite #Chhattisgarh #bhupeshbaghel pic.twitter.com/CmEPthSv51
— News18 Chhattisgarh (@News18CG) April 18, 2024
Though, hours after his controversial remarks, the Congress stalwart later, in a separate statement, praised the security personnel and termed the Kanker encounter as a big success for the forces.
Kanker encounter
It is to be noted that as many as 29 Maoists, including 14 female operatives of the outlawed Communist Party of India Maoist (CPI Maoist) were gunned down in a fierce encounter that occurred between the forces and the Maoists under the Chotebethiya police station limits of Kanker district on Tuesday’s afternoon, April 16.
According to the details, the encounter occurred when a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and BSF were out on a search operation under Chotebethiya PS where a heavy exchange of fire broke out between the forces and the extremists in the forest area of Binagunda-Korgutta at around 2pm.
The forces after the gunfight recovered bodies of as many as 29 Maoist along seizing huge cache of AK-47 rifles, INSAS/SLR/Carbine/303 rifles, light machine guns and huge quantities of arms ammunition.
Those who are killed include two top Maoist commander, carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakhs each. As many as three security personnel have also sustained injuries into the gunfight following which they were immediately airlifted to the State capital where they are being treated and reported to be out of danger.
