In a politically explosive charge, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president and Union Health Minister, Jagat Prakash Nadda, has alleged that individuals within the Congress party were complicit in the devastating 2013 Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack. The incident, which occurred in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, claimed the lives of several senior Congress leaders.
The Allegation and the Immediate Backlash
Speaking at a 'Janadesh Parab' public rally in Janjgir Champa district on December 22, 2025, Nadda made a serious claim. He stated that based on his insights from his tenure as the BJP's in-charge for Chhattisgarh, the inside information for the attack came from within the Congress itself. "I want to say with full responsibility... Jhiram Ghati's incident details and inside information was not given by anyone else but the people among them (Congress) who wanted to get their own people killed and were in touch with Naxals," Nadda asserted. However, he did not name any specific individuals or elaborate further on the alleged conspiracy.
The accusation drew a sharp and immediate rebuttal from former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Bhupesh Baghel. He condemned the statement as an insult to the martyrs of the attack and called for a thorough investigation into Nadda's claims. "Security agencies, including the NIA, should interrogate J P Naddaji and demand evidence for his claims," Baghel demanded. He also accused the BJP of previously attempting to stall the probe into the attack through legal petitions.
Recalling the 2013 Jhiram Ghati Massacre
The backdrop of this political firestorm is one of the deadliest attacks on Indian political figures in recent history. On May 25, 2013, Maoist insurgents ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders traveling for the party's 'Parivartan Yatra' in the Darbha valley of Bastar. The attack resulted in 32 fatalities. Among the slain were then-state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, former Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma, and ex-Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case, did not find evidence of a political conspiracy in its investigation. Notably, Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma, who survived the attack, faced speculation but was not charged with conspiracy by the NIA. Lakhma was later arrested in January 2025 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged liquor scam from the tenure of the previous Congress government.
Security Context and Political Narrative
During his speech, Nadda also shifted focus to the security achievements under the BJP-led governments at the Centre and state. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for nearly eradicating the Naxal menace in Chhattisgarh. He provided statistics to bolster this claim, stating that nearly 2,500 Naxalites have surrendered in the last two years, with 1,853 arrests. He also mentioned the neutralization of top leaders like Hidma and Basavaraju.
Official data cited indicates a significant number of Maoist casualties in recent years. In Chhattisgarh, over 503 Maoists were killed in the last two years—284 in the current year (including 255 in Bastar) and 219 the previous year (with 217 in Bastar). Home Minister Amit Shah has set a deadline of March 2026 to eradicate Naxalism from the country.
The exchange between Nadda and Baghel has reignited a painful chapter in Chhattisgarh's history, transforming a tragedy into a fresh battlefield for political one-upmanship ahead of future electoral contests. The demand for proof and interrogation now places the ball in the court of the investigating agencies, even as the war of words continues to dominate the state's political discourse.
