If The Anti-Naxalite Strategy Pays Off, The Menace Will Be Eradicated By March 31, Shah Said

Last updated: February 8, 2026 4:40 pm

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Anand Kumar is a Senior Journalist at Global India Broadcast News, covering national affairs, education, and digital media. He focuses on fact-based reporting and in-depth analysis...

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In Raipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that security-focused strategies, infrastructure development, and disruption of Maoist financial networks have yielded results in the fight against left-wing extremism, stressing that the menace will be completely eradicated before March 31.

If the anti-Naxalite strategy pays off, the menace will be eradicated by March 31, Shah saidShah made the comments after chairing a high-level security review meeting on left-wing extremism in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, weeks ahead of the Centre’s March 31 deadline to eradicate Maoist insurgency.

The home minister shared a photo of the meeting in a post on X.

“Today in Raipur, I held a review meeting with the Chhattisgarh government and officials on the anti-Naxalite campaign. The security-focused strategy, infrastructure development, targeting of Naxalite financial networks and the surrender policy have yielded positive results, and Naxalism will be completely eradicated before March 31,” he wrote.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Union Home Secretary, Intelligence Bureau Director and Home Ministry Special Secretary Nava Raipur attended the meeting at a hotel in Atal Nagar, an official said.

Several senior officers from Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Investigation Agency, as well as directors general of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Telangana were also present, he added.

Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, comprising seven districts, shares borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and has long been considered a Maoist stronghold. However, the region has witnessed intense anti-Naxalite operations in the past few years, which have significantly weakened the extremist movement.

Since January 2024, more than 500 Naxalites, including top cadres like CPI general secretary Nambala Keshavrao alias Basavaraju, have been killed in encounters in Chhattisgarh, while around 1,900 Naxalites have been arrested and over 2,500 have surrendered in the same period as police in the state.