Amit Shah to meet CMs of eight Maoist-hit states tomorrow, review situation

This comes after 31 Maoists were killed in Abujhmad — long considered a Maoist stronghold and a key focus area in the fight against Naxalism — in the single largest encounter in Chhattisgarh’s 24-year history.

“Due to the strategy of the Narendra Modi government, the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has come down by 72% while there is 86% decline in deaths in 2023 as compared with 2010. The Naxals are fighting its last battle now,” it said.

Five Union Ministers of ministries closely involved with providing development support to the LWE-affected states will also attend. The Deputy NSA and senior officers from the Centre, states and CAPFs will also take part. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of the home minister, the central government is committed to completely root out the menace of the LWE by March 2026. The central government is providing all possible assistance to the LWE-affected state governments in fighting the menace of Naxalism,” the statement said.

“The year 2024, so far, has witnessed unprecedented success by the security forces in elimination of armed LWE cadres. So far, 202 LWE cadres have been eliminated this year and 723 LWE cadres have surrendered while 812 have been arrested. The number of LWE-affected districts have come down to just 38 in 2024,” it said.

Shah had last chaired a review meeting with the CMs of the LWE-affected states on October 6 last year. During that meeting, Shah had given comprehensive directions with regard to elimination of LWE.