# Rijiju defends PM after Chidambaram says proud to be dimagi naxal 2026-08-17T23:48:34+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Sunday he was proud to be a 'dimagi naxal', hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech. Modi had warned about 'dimagi naxals' who have entrenched themselves in the system and manipulate policies, calling them a threat to society. Union minister Kiren Rijiju clarified that the PM was not referring to opposition leaders, but only to those who support Maoists and separatists and reject the Constitution. Chidambaram had earlier said the phrase is a new variant of BJP accusations like 'urban naxals' and 'andolanjeevis' directed at the Opposition. Separately, Andhra Pradesh official Lanka Dinakar questioned why Chidambaram had portrayed himself as a self-declared dimagi naxal, asking if he would answer how many police and civilians were killed by Naxalites during the UPA government from 2004 to 2014. ## Coverage - thefederal.com - thehindu.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T03:26:12+00:00. Tags: BJP, Jairam Ramesh, Kiren Rijiju, Narendra Modi, P Chidambaram, Pawan Khera Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rijiju-defends-pm-after-chidambaram-says-proud-to-be-dimagi-naxal/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rijiju-defends-pm-after-chidambaram-says-proud-to-be-dimagi-naxal/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/