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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Gadchiroli SP declares Maoist menace ‘almost over’

Mumbai: In a resounding statement signalling a historic shift, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP) Neelotpal has declared the district, once the dark heart of the ‘Red Corridor,’ is on the verge of becoming completely free of the Naxal menace. The SP expressed absolute confidence in the complete eradication of the banned CPI (Maoist) presence, noting that the remaining cadres have dwindled to a mere handful. “There has been a sea change in the situation,” SP Neelotpal stated,...

Gadchiroli SP declares Maoist menace ‘almost over’

Mumbai: In a resounding statement signalling a historic shift, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police (SP) Neelotpal has declared the district, once the dark heart of the ‘Red Corridor,’ is on the verge of becoming completely free of the Naxal menace. The SP expressed absolute confidence in the complete eradication of the banned CPI (Maoist) presence, noting that the remaining cadres have dwindled to a mere handful. “There has been a sea change in the situation,” SP Neelotpal stated, highlighting the dramatic turnaround. He revealed that from approximately 100 Maoist cadres on record in January 2024, the number has plummeted to barely 10 individuals whose movements are now confined to a very small pocket of the Bhamragad sub-division in South Gadchiroli, near the Chhattisgarh border. “North Gadchiroli is now free of Maoism. The Maoists have to surrender and join the mainstream or face police action... there is no other option.” The SP attributes this success to a meticulously executed multi-pronged strategy encompassing intensified anti-Maoist operations, a robust Civic Action Programme, and the effective utilisation of Maharashtra’s attractive surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy. The Gadchiroli Police, especially the elite C-60 commandos, have achieved significant operational milestones. In the last three years alone, they have neutralised 43 hardcore Maoists and achieved a 100 per cent success rate in operations without police casualties for nearly five years. SP Neelotpal highlighted that the security forces have aggressively moved to close the “security vacuum,” which was once an estimated 3,000 square kilometres of unpoliced territory used by Maoists for training and transit. The establishment of eight new police camps/Forward Operating Bases (FoBs) since January 2023, including in the remote Abujhmad foothills, has been crucial in securing these areas permanently. Winning Hearts, Minds The Civic Action Programme has been deemed a “game changer” by the SP. Through schemes like ‘Police Dadalora Khidaki’ and ‘Project Udaan’, the police have transformed remote outposts into service delivery centres, providing essential government services and employment opportunities. This sustained outreach has successfully countered Maoist propaganda and, most critically, resulted in zero Maoist recruitment from Gadchiroli for the last few years. Surrender Wave The state’s progressive rehabilitation policy has seen a massive influx of surrenders. “One sentiment is common among all the surrendered cadres: that the movement has ended, it has lost public support, and without public support, no movement can sustain,” the SP noted. The surrender of key figures, notably that of Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias ‘Bhupathi,’ a CPI (Maoist) Politburo member, and his wife Sangeeta, was a “landmark development” that triggered a surrender wave. Since June 2024, over 126 Maoists have surrendered. The rehabilitation program offers land, housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and employment. Surrendered cadres are receiving skill training and are successfully transitioning into normal life, with around 70 already employed in the local Lloyds plant. A District Reborn The transformation of Gadchiroli is now moving beyond security concerns. With the decline of extremism, the district is rapidly moving towards development and normalcy. The implementation of development schemes, round-the-clock electricity, water supply, mobile towers, and new infrastructure like roads and bridges is being given top priority. He concludes that the police’s focus is now shifting from an anti-Maoist offensive to routine law-and-order policing, addressing new challenges like industrialisation, theft, and traffic management. With the Maoist movement in “complete disarray” and major strongholds like the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) Special Zone collapsing, the SP is highly optimistic. Gadchiroli is not just getting rid of the Naxal menace; it is embracing its future as a developing, peaceful district, well on track to meet the central government’s goal of eradicating Naxalism by March 31, 2026.

A beeline for NCP (SP)

THE PARTY IS SEEING AN INFLUX OF SENIOR LEADERS FROM WESTERN MAHARASHTRA AND MARATHWADA


WESTERN MAHARASHTRA AND MARATHWADA

Mumbai: A popular joke doing the rounds is that Sharad Pawar has been on a shopping spree of Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, picking up local strongmen and putting them into his kitty—the NCP (SP). Over the past few weeks, on the heels of the party’s sparkling show at the Lok Sabha polls and the possibility of a return to power after the Vidhan Sabha elections, politicians from different parties are jumping onto the senior Pawar’s bandwagon. Harshvardhan Patil, after a stint with the BJP, has returned to the fold and was immediately inducted into the party’s parliamentary committee. Other big names to swear allegiance to the NCP’s patriarch are Samarjeet Ghatge of Kagal, Ajit Gavhane, Naik, Laxman Dhoble, former guardian minister of Solapur, Ramesh Thorat from Daund and Rajendra Mhaske, a former BJP man from Beed. 


More than 20 prominent politicians have joined the party in the past few weeks in the run-up to the Vidhan Sabha elections. “There is a two-way engagement with those who want to join the party. Over the course of the past few months, we have understood that we have to work twice as hard to replicate the success of the Lok Sabha elections. This requires a consolidation of all those voices who are speaking out against the current government. On the other side, scores of leaders are disillusioned, and have sought to leave parties that they have been part of. I am grateful they have chosen us, the NCP (SP) as their home today,” says Anish Gawande, national spokesperson, NCP (SP). 


It’s no secret that senior leaders with a mass base have joined the party with an eye on a nomination. However, not all can be accommodated. The understanding, says Gawande, was clear. “Leaders are judged on merit and then given responsibilities. Every candidacy is dependent on electoral merit,” he says. The rule has been applied to those who have returned from the Ajit Pawar faction and also those who have come in from other parties with divergent and contrasting ideologies. 


Political watchers, however, claim that this isn’t an election of sentiment or ideology. Another NCP (SP) leader who doesn’t want to be named, says that this election needs mass leaders who can get the voters out because these polls will be dependent only on the numbers. That’s the number one criterion. Apart from balancing the caste equations, which are on the boil with the ongoing Maratha reservation agitation. “We have to rely on mass leaders who can get the voters out,” he says. 


Ideologies and affiliations don’t matter. They are knocking at Pawar’s door with hopes of getting a nomination for the elections or a promise of good prospects later. Many switched sides after realising that their chances of contesting from their original parties were slim, given the peculiar alliances that Maharashtra has recently seen. Samarjeet Ghatge, on realising that the BJP has had to relinquish its claim to the Kagal seat for the NCP’s Hasan Mushrif, switched to the NCP (SP) in a grand public gathering. BJP leader Ganesh Naik stays with the BJP while his son Sandeep, who was denied a nomination by the BJP from Belapur, returned to the NCP(SP). 


The crossing over works well for both sides. While politicians get a chance to retain their hold over their constituencies by getting a shot at winning the polls, the party gets a leader with a strong bloc of grassroots workers. 


The inflow has been carefully selected. Consolidate is the buzzword as the party is strengthening its base and force by inducting local leaders who can give the party a boost in various regions. Throughout its lifetime, the undivided NCP had western Maharashtra as its stronghold. But with the departure of sitting legislators, the NCP (SP) is now in the process of bringing in new people to retain its bastion of western Maharashtra and is also spreading its wings across Marathwada. 


The party, however, dismisses claims of smart strategies to consolidate its voter base. “There is anger among the people given the agrarian crisis and the way this government is handling the matter,” says Gawande.

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