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Increasing frequency of anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar and other regions has led to the killing of over 80 Naxalites this year so far. As a result, the outlawed outfit has been considerably weakened even in its present strongholds and is now virtually gasping for breath. The ultra-left outfit has lost most of its top leaders in encounters with security forces in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh and its borders of Telangana, Odisha and Maharashtra during the past one year.

 

The aggressive push by the security forces, aided by a more cohesive intelligence sharing among the states and improvisation in field fighting tactics, comes against the backdrop of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s promise to eradicate Left-wing extremism (LWE) in the country by March 2026. Facing the combined heat from the state police and paramilitary forces, the lower and middle-level Maoist cadres have been surrendering in huge numbers.

 

Last year, as many as 219 Maoists died in encounters with the security forces. Maoist arrests almost doubled from 428 in 2023 to 837 in 2024, while surrenders rose from 398 to 802.

 

Eroding public support

 

Most of the Maoist top leadership hail from Telangana, which was once considered the bastion of the Naxalite movement. However, over the years, the movement lost its sheen. A combination of steady erosion in public support and a sustained pressure from security agencies forced the Naxalite leaders to escape to the neighbouring states like Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.

 

Once a romantic notion that attracted both the restive urban youth on campuses, and the underprivileged and exploited sections in rural areas and gave them a sense of purpose and justice, Naxalism has gradually degenerated into a refuge for a clutch of extortionists and trigger-happy vigilantes indulging in pointless violent attacks and blindly obstructing developmental projects.

 

Indiscriminate killing of innocent people, branding them as police informers, and resorting to the same brutal methods that they often accuse their enemy classes of, public hangings after holding kangaroo courts, killing politicians and policemen and resorting to extortions have resulted in a steady erosion of public support. The academics and intellectual class, once the mainstay of the Maoist ideology, has slowly moved away from it.

 

The top leadership of the People’s War Group (PWG), the earlier avatar of the naxalite organisation before merging with Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) to become CPI (Maoist), hailed from Telangana in the combined Andhra Pradesh.

 

Parallel administration

 

At the height of Naxalite movement during the early 1990s, the ultras virtually ran parallel administration in vast swathes of the backward Telangana region. After the failure of the first-ever peace talks with the state government in October 2004, Maoists suffered big setbacks in the state with several of their top leaders being eliminated in police operations and many more surrendering to the police.

 

Apart from facing the heat from the police, the Maoist movement also witnessed significant erosion in its support base over years. As a result, the residual leadership has shifted its base to Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

 

The success in anti-insurgency operations was largely due to ‘greyhounds’, an elite anti-Naxalite outfit of AP police raised in 1989 to specialise in executing intelligence-led precision strikes.

 

Adopting jungle warfare and guerrilla tactics, and armed with improved intelligence gathering and sophisticated weapons and training, Greyhounds soon emerged as a role model for the rest of the country.

 

The successive governments adopted a two-pronged strategy to contain Naxalite activities; modernization of the police force to execute intelligence-led precision strikes and massive development in the remote areas, particularly focusing on roads, infrastructure, communication, schools and hospitals. This came to be known as the ‘Andhra model’ and proved to be very effective in ridding the state of Naxal menace.

 

New avatar

 

The CPI (Maoist) was formed on September 21, 2004, through the merger of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War, a predominant Maoist group in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI), based in Bihar and West Bengal.

 

At the time of its formation, CPI-Maoist had a 16-member strong politburo, the outfit’s highest decision-making body, and a 34-member strong central committee. Many members of the central committee as well as the politburo of the CPI (Maoist) during its formation were from Telangana region of AP. Muppalla Lakshmana Rao from Karimnagar, who was earlier heading the People’s War, was elected as its general secretary.

 

According to a 2021 intelligence report, the central committee, which includes politburo members, comprised 21 members, of which 10 were from Telangana and two from Andhra Pradesh. However, most of these top leaders are ageing and are said to be suffering from various ailments. While present general secretary Baswaraj is now 70 years old, Ganapathi is 76 years old and is not able to move out of his hideout.

 

No place in democracy

 

At the core of the Naxalite ideology is the belief that power can be captured through the barrel of a gun and annihilation of class enemies. This abominable path has no place in democratic societies and hence must be fought on multiple fronts.

 

Weak governance, corruption and inadequate provision of basic services in affected regions contribute to a sense of alienation and disillusionment among the local population. The inability of the government to address the root causes of discontent creates space for extremist groups to exploit the situation.

 

Development policies that fail to reach the grassroots level and address the specific needs of marginalised communities contribute to the appeal of leftist ideologies. Moreover, the uneven distribution of the benefits of economic growth exacerbates social inequalities. Left-wing extremist groups position themselves as champions of the oppressed, promising to address the economic and social disparities that persist in these regions.

 

The government needs to focus on improving socio-economic conditions in areas affected by left-wing extremism, such as investing in infrastructure, creating employment opportunities, and providing better access to education and healthcare.

 

There is a need to aggressively push for projects that focus on sustainable development and conservation of natural resources in areas affected by extremism. By involving local communities in environmental protection efforts, a sense of ownership and responsibility can be fostered, leading to reduced extremism. A judicious mix of security and developmental measures will put considerable pressure on the movement.

 

The efforts of the security forces have to be complemented strongly by a host of soft measures like the implementation of the Forest Dwellers act, improving connectivity and communication, and building infrastructure in remote places. The government officials must deliver development on the ground. They must visit the affected areas regularly and instil confidence among the people. They must have the faith that the government will protect them from the Maoist extortions.

 

On the security front, better coordination among security agencies, between security and development agencies, among the states and between the Centre and the states is required to eradicate the Maoist movement.