top of page

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.

Schisms and Appeasement in Western Vidarbha

ree

As the Assembly polls loom, Amravati district in Western Vidarbha is turning into a microcosm for coalition schisms as well as appeasement of established players. A striking instance is the Daryapur Assembly segment where the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has announced Abhijit Adsul as the Mahayuti’s candidate. This decision has ignited tensions with incumbent MLA Ravi Rana, an independent supporting the BJP who has asserted that Adsul is unwelcome not just in Daryapur but throughout the district. The situation has posed problems for the Mahayuti in western Vidarbha besides triggering old tensions between the Ranas and the Adsul family.


Ahead of the Lok Sabha this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision to nominate independent MP Navneet Rana for the Amravati Lok Sabha seat had sparked significant dissent within the ruling Mahayuti coalition, with Abhijit’s father - former Lok Sabha MP Anandrao Adsul, a prominent figure in the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena - calling his ally, the BJP’s choice of Navneet Rana as “political suicide.” Despite indicating that Abhijit would contest against Navneet Rana as an independent in the Lok Sabha, the coalition schism was averted.


Now, with the Shiv Sena intent on placating the Adsul family comeback, the dynamics are fraught again. Ravi Rana, the MLA from Badnera, remains at daggers drawn with the Adsul clan, alleging that Adsul had engaged in a smear campaign against his wife, Navneet Rana, during the Lok Sabha election.


To make matters worse, Ravi Rana has enlisted former BJP Ramesh Bundile into his Yuva Swabhiman Party, aiming to consolidate support and mount a formidable challenge against Adsul in Daryapur.


In the 2014 assembly elections, Bundile had emerged victorious in Daryapur by a substantial margin of 19,582 votes, trouncing Abhijit Adsul, then a sitting Shiv Sena MLA.


Meanwhile, another bitter foe of the Ranas - Bacchu Kadu, leader of the Prahar Jan Shakti party, has asserted that Maharashtra favoured the ‘third front’ of the Parivartan Mahashakti, led by Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati of Maharashtra Swarajya Paksha, himself and Raju Shetti of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana.


Kadu, the incumbent MLA from Achalpur, was once a Mahayuti ally who was broken away from the ruling coalition. The BJP has fielded Pravin Tayade to supplant the formidable Kadu, a four-term consecutive legislator.


Meanwhile, the opposition Congress– the most prominent of the three Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners in this belt - is turning to its seasoned veterans in a bid to reclaim its strongholds in western Vidarbha. In Amravati, the party has nominated former women and child development minister Yashomati Thakur from Teosa, former minister Sunil Desmukh, former MLA Virendra Jagtap from Dhamangaon Railway, and Aniruddha Deshmukh, the Congress district president from Achalpur.


All four candidates are set to face their traditional opponents in the upcoming elections. Notably, aside from Thakur, the other three candidates suffered defeats in the 2019 assembly elections. Jagtap, making his seventh bid for election, is joined by Thakur in her fifth attempt and Bablu Deshmukh, who is vying for the seat for the third time. Deshmukh’s return marks his first candidacy after a 15-year hiatus; he previously ran as a BJP candidate in 2019, losing to Congress’s Sulbha Khodke, before rejoining Congress three years ago.

Comments

bottom of page