New Delhi, Aug. 18 -- The political row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Dimagi Naxal" remark intensified on Tuesday as Congress leader Pawan Khera launched a sharp counterattack on Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju after he defended PM Modi's remark.

Khera accused Rijiju of trying to deflect a self-inflicted controversy onto the Congress party.

PM Modi had, in his 80th Independence Day address from the Red Fort on August 15, warned that while armed Naxalism violence in India is nearing elimination, there was a threat of "dimaagi Naxals" and there was a need to identify and isolate them.

While several opposition leaders criticised the remark, Congress MP P Chidambaram posted on X, "I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!"....