In Chhattisgarh, why BJP govt has resorted to a twin-track approach to tackle Maoism

Shah also addressed the family members of security personnel killed in anti-Maoist operations, at a Shaheed Smarak (martyr memorial) set up in Jagdalpur that displays the names of 1,399 security men killed in Naxal violence.

Chhattisgarh, especially its Bastar region, is now virtually the last remaining bastion of Maoism in the country. In a 2013 Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, almost the entire leadership of the state Congress was wiped out.

Comparing the one-year performance of the current BJP government with that of the previous Congress regime’s track record, Shah said “there has been a 73% reduction in the deaths of security personnel and a 70% decrease in civilian casualties in Naxal-affected areas” in the state.

Going all out to fight Maoism bolsters the BJP’s image of a party willing to take a “hard line” against Left-wing extremism, which it contrasts with its main rival Congress’s alleged “soft handling” of it.

The BJP and the RSS have also had sharp ideological differences with various shades of the left – particularly the radical left. Significantly,

the BJP under Narendra Modi’s leadership coined a new term after coming to power in 2014 when, during Prime Minister Modi’s first term, the party started deriding the radical urban left as “urban naxals”, a term that was widely deployed even for left intellectuals and students. Besides aiming to “delegitimise” radical left views and positions, such a narrative underlined that the party strongly disagreed with any framing of Maoists as “pro-poor or pro-tribals”.

Covered by dense forests, tribal-dominated Bastar has been a hub of Maoists for several years. The anti-Maoist operations of the security forces of the central and state governments have thus been centered in this region. The personnel of the CRPF, STF, BSF, Bastar Battalion, Bastar Fighters, and District Reserve Guard (DRG) continue to comb the Bastar forests as part of

a “proactive policy to eliminate Maoists”. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the State Investigation Agency (SIA) have also been entrusted with probing into the Naxal-related cases. A total of 27 cases have been handed over to the NIA “to destroy the supply and funding network of Maoists”.

“These agencies are focused on destroying the network providing economic and material support to Naxals, in order to stop their activities completely,” said a Chhattisgarh government’s note on its Naxal policy.

Carrot and stick policy

Aiming for elimination of Maoism, the Chhattisgarh government has also started a policy of rehabilitation of those Naxals who have surrendered. It is offering housing to the surrendered Maoists under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, while providing for special subsidies under its new industrial policy.

“We are providing 15,000 houses to surrendered Naxalites and victims of Naxal violence, along with offering skill development training and a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000,” CM Sai said.

Through its Niyad Nellanar scheme, the Sai government is looking to ensure basic amenities in Naxal-affected villages. In recent months, many security camps have been set up across South Bastar, Abujhmad, North Bastar, and other Maoist-affected areas. One of these camps is the Bastariya Battalion Camp Sedwa, where CM Sai stayed with the security personnel to boost their morale.

As many as 500 mobile towers have been installed in the Bastar region in the last one year, government sources said.

“Electricity lines are rapidly being expanded, even in remote and inaccessible areas. Villages that had not received electricity in 75 years since Independence are now being illuminated. Grid power supply has begun in many remote villages of Bastar,” the government note said.

It also stated: “Under the new industrial policy, industries in Naxal-affected areas are being provided with special incentives and various other forms of support. As part of this, industries will receive a subsidy of up to 40% of the wages for providing employment to surrendered Naxals. Additionally, industries setting up in Bastar will receive up to 45% assistance under the permanent capital investment grant. Furthermore, under the SGST reimbursement scheme, up to 150% of capital investment will be reimbursed in SGST for the next 10 years. The new policy also offers industries exemptions in stamp duty and electricity charges, along with 10 other types of investment incentives.”

During his visit to Chhattisgarh, Shah also met surrendered Maoists.

Promoting Bastar

The Chhattisgarh government is setting up a new industrial area of 118 acres near the Nagarnar Steel Plant in Bastar to support micro, small, and medium industries.

The state government is also attempting to promote Bastar as a tourist destination. As part of this initiative, it recently held a sporting event, Bastar Olympics, to project the region as relatively conflict-free compared to the past, showcasing its cultural traditions too.

Bastar Olympics featured athletics, archery, badminton, football, hockey and weightlifting. As per official figures,1,65,300 players took part in it, which included 300 surrendered Maoists.

Tribal factor

The BJP’s push for rehabilitation of surrendered Maoists also appears to be linked to the state’s demography and the need for social symbolism.

Tribals account for about 31% of the state’s population.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP swept the state, bagging 10 of 11 seats as against the Congress’s one seat. The BJP won all four Scheduled Tribes (ST)-reserved Lok Sabha seats including both the seats in Bastar, where tribals make up about 70% of population.

In the November 2023 Assembly polls, the BJP won 54 of 90 seats as against the Congress’s 35, winning 17 of 29 ST-reserved seats.

If the BJP government does not adopt a twin-track approach and implement a rehabilitation policy for surrendered Maoists, it could draw criticism of “targeting tribals in the name of combating Naxalism”.

With the BJP now relentlessly claiming to champion the cause of Scheduled Castes (SCs), STs and OBCs to counter the Opposition INDIA bloc’s charge that it wanted to change the Constitution and end reservation, the party-led government in Chhattisgarh feels the imperative to focus on the development and rehabilitation schemes along with its onslaught on Naxalites.

The Chhattisgarh Congress’s communication head Sushil Anand Shukla told The Indian Express, “They (BJP) have not yet been able to structure a Naxal policy of theirs. The Union Home Minister now says that Naxalism would end by March 31, 2026, after a similar deadline of three years given by him already ended in 2022. Most of their encounters are being questioned by villagers themselves. There was also a recent instance where five children were killed in a purported encounter with Naxals. It was the Congress government that made a Naxal policy, built camps of security forces in remote areas and also built roads there.”