Modi Says Naxalism Is Finished, Calls Opposition an Obstruction Bloc

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a Rashtriya Ekta Diwas gathering at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat on Saturday that India has broken the back of Naxalism. Speaking on the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Modi said 126 districts were affected by Left-Wing Extremism in 2015, and that by March 2026 no district in the country remained affected.

Modi recalled a pledge he made at the same venue a year ago, on Patel's 150th birth anniversary, that the country would not rest until it was free of Naxalism and Maoist violence. "That resolve of the country has been fulfilled. The backbone of Naxalism has been broken," he said, as reported from the event. He also warned that the threat of what he called "dimagi Naxals," or mental Naxals, remains high.

An attack on the opposition

The speech carried a direct political attack. Modi said the opposition had stopped doing its constitutional job. "It is our misfortune that the Opposition has turned into Avrodh Paksh," he said, using a Hindi phrase that means an obstructionist bloc, rather than a Virodh Paksh, an opposing side. He argued that a decade of electoral defeats had pushed opposition parties toward obstruction rather than debate.

Modi also alleged that forces working to divide India operate through foreign contacts. "Who is secretly meeting whom abroad? Whom are anti-India forces supporting? Who is speaking the language of India's enemies? We must recognise all these patterns," he said. He added that social media is being used as a weapon to spread rumours and damage India's image, and said citizens would have to deal with that together.

Patel, the parade, and the claims

Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is held every year on October 31, Patel's birth anniversary. Patel, India's first home minister and deputy prime minister, led the integration of more than 500 princely states into the Indian Union after independence. Modi paid floral tributes at the Statue of Unity in Narmada district to open the day's programme.

Families from Naxal-affected areas attended the Ekta Nagar event as special guests, and Modi paid homage to security personnel killed in operations. The parade featured anti-Naxal units from several states and central forces. Modi said the regions once affected by Left-Wing Extremism are now joining mainstream development, with roads, mobile connectivity, schools and healthcare expanding.

On Friday, the first day of his two-day Gujarat visit, Modi inaugurated Bharat Parv 2026 at Ekta Nagar, a festival of crafts, cuisines and folk performances from across India that runs until November 15.

Why it matters

The Naxal claim is the headline of the speech, and it is a claim, made by the prime minister at a government event, that voters and state governments will now test against conditions on the ground in the districts he named by number. The figure he gave, 126 affected districts in 2015 falling to none by March 2026, is specific enough to check, and it will be checked.

The political frame matters too. By pairing the security claim with the "Avrodh Paksh" charge, Modi used a unity day ceremony to set up a contrast: a government that says it delivered on a decade-old security pledge, and an opposition he accuses of blocking the country. He listed the next steps as he sees them: securing borders fully, stopping infiltration and demographic change, and moving toward a secular civil code. His two stated goals were "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat," one India, best India, and "Vikshit Bharat," a developed India.

Key numbers

• 126 districts affected by Left-Wing Extremism in 2015, by Modi's account
• Zero districts affected by March 2026, by Modi's account at the event
• 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, marked on October 31
• More than 500 princely states integrated under Patel after independence
• Bharat Parv 2026 runs at Ekta Nagar until November 15

What happens next

Opposition parties will answer the obstruction charge and contest the Naxal claim, and the districts named in past government lists will be the ground on which the claim is judged. The speech also lands as state-level politics heats up, and its lines on infiltration and a secular civil code point at the fights the government plans to pick next.