NEW DELHI: Going ahead with the government’s dream of a Naxal-free Bharat, the number of districts that have been ‘Most Affected’ by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) has come down to merely three — Bijapur, Sukma, and Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh.
This is a historic drop from six such districts previously. Also, the number of districts affected by LWE in the nation has dropped from 18 to a mere 11, reflecting a resounding change in the fight against Naxalism.
The Union govt, with an ambition to eradicate the Naxal menace once and for all by March 31, 2026, has recorded record operational achievements this year under the Prime Minister’s leadership and the Union Home Minister’s guidance.
312 LWE cadres have been killed, including the General Secretary of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) and eight other top leaders of the Polit Bureau and Central Committee. In addition, 836 cadres have been apprehended, whereas 1,639 others have surrendered and joined the mainstream. Among the surrendered were a Politburo member and a Central Committee member, indicating a serious collapse of the top leadership of the movement.
These results have been the outcome of an intensive implementation of the National Action Plan and Policy, which takes a holistic, multi-pronged approach. The approach integrates accurate intelligence-led, human-centric counter-LWE operations with swift area domination, selective targeting of top leaders and above-ground sympathisers, and systematic throttling of money sources.