After Maoists strike twice, wary parties cut back on political activities in Chhattisgarh

Soon after Sahu’s killing, former BJP chief minister Raman Singh blamed the Congress government. “The BJP is being targeted and our leaders are being killed. The incompetent Congress government has kneeled before the criminals. Dau (Lord) Bhupesh Baghel, remember, every single murder will be accounted for, now real justice will be done, not injustice of the Congress.”

Sagar Sahu, deputy chief of the BJP in Narayanpur, was killed on Friday night in Chotedongar. (Express photo)

The BJP fears these could be “targeted” attacks, and might see a rise as the Assembly elections, due in five months, followed by local polls, approach.

Though political workers are frequently the targets of Maoist attacks in the state, Kakem and Sahu were are the first political leaders killed in Chhattisgarh since 2019.

Kakem was an active BJP worker, who had been with the party for 15 years. He contested and lost a zilla parishad election, but had won a block-level one. He was with his wife at his nephew’s house when the Maoists struck, attacking him with sharp weapons, leaving multiple wounds. His wife was threatened to stay away; the couple have three daughters and an infant son.

Next to Kakem’s body, a note left by the Maoists said they had cautioned him not to participate in BJP activities and that he was a police informer and had supported the Salwa Judum, an anti-Maoist movement.

Police sources said Kakem had been repeatedly cautioned about the risk to him, and that if he had alerted them before venturing to a remote area, he would have been provided security.

BJP national president J P Nadda paying his respects to deceased Sagar Sahu in Narayanpur. Former Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and state BJP chief Arun Sao are also seen. (Express photo)

Sahu was killed at his home by suspected Maoists, who knocked on his door and shot him when he answered. While Sahu never fought an election, he had been an active member of the BJP for 25 years and was the chief of the party’s Kisan Morcha.

Sahu, who is survived by two sons and a daughter, had also received threats from Maoists, over his role in promoting an iron ore mining site in his area, and had informed the police, a local BJP leader said.

After the killings, the booth committees set up by the BJP in remote areas as part of poll preparations are deserted.

Acknowledging the worry among party workers, a local BJP leader in Bijapur said that three months ago, another divisional head of the party like Kakem was briefly kidnapped and threatened, after which he distanced himself from the party.

The BJP leader said, “They held him captive for five hours… Party activities in his division Kutru have now gone silent.” He added that they have not named a replacement as that might put another leader at risk, and claimed they did not lodge an FIR as that might have further provoked the Maoists.

Inspector General, Bastar Range, Sunddaraj P said Maoists targeting politicians was not a surprise. “They have killed more than 1,700 innocent civilians, including many political representatives, over the years. Political workers are unarmed and live among the masses, and hence are soft targets. The Maoists do not need a lot or to take many risks to attack them. What they want is to create fear psychosis among villagers by attacking political activists, workers, panchayat members,” the IGP said.

BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta denied that the incidents had cowed the party. “BJP workers do not fear anyone. The BJP is a strong organisation and we will ensure justice is done. The more they (the Maoists) try to stop us, we will oppose them with double the force.”

RSS member and state general secretary Pawan Sai, who is touring Jagdalpur in Bastar currently, however, admitted they were concerned. Asked what the party was doing to boost the morale and confidence of BJP workers, Sai said: “We are working on it. Right now, it is not the correct time to go there (to the spot).”

Sai also said that senior BJP leaders, including former MLA Mahesh Gagda, had visited Kakem’s family and offered them all possible help.

The ruling Congress too is wary after the two attacks in quick succession. Congress Bijapur district chief Lalu Rathod said, “I have not received threats, but you never know. Just last month, our worker Rammurthi Gatpalli, 32, was hacked to death by Maoists. While he did not tell us if he had received threats, they left behind a note similar to that left next to Kakem’s body.”

About police advice to them, Rathod said he could not talk much about it, adding: “The police give us information not to travel to certain areas and we abide by it.”

A relative of Gatpalli’s, who says they did not know he worked for the Congress, recalled that the Maoists struck on January 13, when he and others had gone to sell paddy at the Usoor paddy market. “Around 8-10 of them hacked Gatpalli in front of me… I held his head in my lap, and he asked me to clean his face, and then succumbed.”

An official said they suspect that both Gatpalli and Kakem were killed by a small action team of Maoists, who do not carry firearms but use sharp weapons.

Before the recent killings, the last time political leaders were killed by Maoists was in June 2019, when a Samajwadi Party leader, Santosh Punem, 40, was kidnapped and murdered in Bijapur. Two months earlier, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, five people, including BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi, his driver, and three security personnel were killed in an IED blast in Dantewada.

Over the last 10 years since 2013, around 38 political representatives have been killed by Maoists. Of them, 14 were killed in the May 2013 Jheeram Ghati incident alone, in which almost the entire Congress state leadership was wiped out.