The Congress on Tuesday sharpened its attack on Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of delivering a lengthy Lok Sabha speech without resorting to what it described as his “usual choice of words”, even as his claim of a near Naxal-free India triggered a political row.The Opposition party’s jibe came a day after Shah in Parliament asserted that the country had effectively dismantled the top Maoist leadership and its central structure. He credited the government’s sustained operations for crippling insurgent networks and declared that India was on the brink of ending decades of Naxal violence.Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Home Minister had “accomplished a miracle” by speaking for 90 minutes without using a term that has, in the past, been ordered to be expunged from parliamentary records. He also recalled an earlier instance this month when remarks made by Shah in the House had been removed from proceedings.The sharp exchange follows Shah’s attack on the Congress during the debate, where he accused the party of failing to curb Naxalism during its years in power. He also alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had appeared in public alongside individuals sympathetic to Maoist ideology and had shared content perceived as supportive of such groups.The debate turned turbulent towards the end, with Opposition members entering the Well of the House, raising slogans and demanding an apology for remarks they termed offensive. The disruption came as Shah concluded his address, capping a heated two-day discussion.Invoking historical references, Shah claimed that former PM Indira Gandhi had accepted support from Naxal elements during elections in the 1970s in undivided Andhra Pradesh. He argued that political backing in earlier decades had enabled the spread of the so-called “Red Corridor” across several states.Shah maintained that the current government’s crackdown had reversed that trajectory, with coordinated security operations significantly weakening insurgent strongholds. He also reiterated his earlier deadline of March 31, 2026, for ending Naxal violence, calling a ‘Naxal-free India’ the government’s most significant internal security achievement.The Congress, however, framed Shah’s speech as politically loaded and accused the government of rewriting history while deflecting scrutiny. With both sides digging in, the claim of eliminating Naxalism has now moved beyond security discourse into the centre of a sharp political contest.