During the inauguration of the ‘Rising North East Investors Summit’ on Friday (23rd May), PM Modi reiterated his government’s zero tolerance policy towards terrorism and Naxalism in the country. Over the last 10 years, the Modi government has dealt with the menace of Naxalism with an iron hand by adopting a multi-pronged strategy which includes aggressive military operations to eliminate Naxal terrorism as well as development efforts to integrate the Left-wing extremism (LWE) affected areas and people into the mainstream as per the National Policy and Action Plan launched in 2015.
The government has been working on strengthening security as well as civil infrastructure in the Naxal-affected areas by setting up security camps, enabling development projects and launching initiatives like Bastar Olympics housing.
Operation Kagar: last nail in the coffin of Maoist terror
Reintegration of Naxalism-affected people is not possible without eliminating the threat they face from the Naxal terrorists who use the locals to shoot their guns off their shoulders. The Modi government has resolved to uproot Naxalism from the country by March 2026. To achieve this end, the government adopted an aggressive military approach to counter Naxal terrorism which entered its last phase thanks to Operation Kagar.
Operation Kagar was launched by the government in January 2024 to eradicate Naxalism in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (Gadchiroli), Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana as well as installing new camps as part of the military offensive by security forces. Under the operation, around 1 lakh para-military troops, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite CoBRA units, District Reserve Guards DRG), and state police, equipped with modern technology, have been deployed in the left-wing terrorism affected areas to completely uproot the naxal terrorism from its last remaining strongholds. Since the inception of the operation, the security forces have eliminated over 400 naxal terrorists so far while more than 800 Maoists have surrendered.
Two days agao, in a major breakthrough, the security forces neutralised the elusive Maoist commander Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju along with 26 naxals in a fierce gunbattle in Abujhmad area of the Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.
Significant decrease in Naxal-affected areas
The governmemt’s zero tolerance policy, along with an aggressive military approach, has bore significant results with the Maoist violence going down by 77% between 2010 to 2021. There has been considerable decrease in the incidents of violence from 2258 incidents in 2009 to 509 incidents in 2021. The number of naxal-affected districts has also reduced over the past 10 years from 106 districts in 2015 to 6 districts (Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Sukma in Chhattisgarh, West Singhbhum in Jharkhand and Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra). Additionally, the deaths resulting from Maoist terror have reduced by 90%.
The number of Naxalites killed in encounters has increased from 63 to 2089. In 2024, 928 Naxalites surrendered, and so far, 718 have surrendered in the first four months of 2025. From 2019 to 2025, the central forces, in collaboration with state police, have established a total of 320 camps in Naxal-affected states, including 68 night-landing helipads. The number of fortified police stations, which was 66 in 2014, has now increased to 555.
Speaking in the Pariliament in March, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Parliament that Naxalism will be eradicated from the country by March 31st, 2026. He stated that between 2004 and 2014, 16,463 violent incidents were registered , but in the last ten years, this number has gone down by 53 per cent. The deaths of security personnel have also reduced by 73% in the past 10 years.
Depleting Naxal leadership and the approaching end of Maoist terrorism
With the Naxal leadership being wiped out steadily by the security forces, the Naxal movement is now staring at its inevitable end. The recent killing of Maoist leader Basavaraju, who used to walk around with a multi-layer security cover of about 60-70 armed naxals, demonstrates the enhanced accuracy of the security forces in carrying out recent anti-naxal operations. This is surely going to hit the morale of the depleting Maoist cadre
The significance of this achievement of the government and the security forces in their decades-old fight against Maoist terror is underlined by the statement of RK Vij, a former DGP, who played a key role in the formation of District Reserve Guard (DRG) unit of Chhattisgarh Police in 2015.
“This was no ordinary kill. Basavaraju, an engineering dropout from Andhra Pradesh, was not just a guerrilla commander. He was the ideological and military head of India’s most potent insurgent force. He succeeded Ganapathy in 2018 and brought a militant edge to the party, shifting focus from political mobilisation to aggressive militarisation,” said Vij.”The neutralisation of such a heavily guarded general secretary, surrounded by 60-70 armed cadres, shows how deep our intelligence has gone. More importantly, it will shake their cadre’s confidence to the core. You will see a rise in surrenders.” he added.
Basavaraju not only oversaw combact activities of the Maoist cadre but also provided ideological direction. After him, the Maoist cadre reportedly has two contenders, Devji and Venugopal Rao to take his place.
Devji has served as a field commander after receiving training in the early 1990s. He played a key role in launching the first armed platoon of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the CPI(Maoist), and led the 2007 attack on Geedam police station in Dantewada which strengthened his military reputation among his cadre. He currently heads the Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest operational command of the PLGA. Basavaraju also held the position before becoming the general secretary of the CPI(Maoist). While Devji has proven combat abilities, he lacks ideological finesse.
According to former DGP Vij, “Devji is not just a field operative, he is a strategist. He understands terrain, troop movement and morale. His elevation to the General Secretary post would signal a return to militant hard-lining.”
Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathy, on the other hand, has the reputation of a seasoned Central Committee member. His journey with the Maoist movement started in 1994 with the formation of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DSZC) in which he was appointed as the first General Secretary. A native of Andhra Pradesh, Venugopal has fluency in Telugu, Gondi and Hindi, which provide him an edge in communication in tribal belts. At present, he heads the central bureau, which oversees Maoist operations across Chhattisgarh, North Telangana, parts of Maharashtra and Odisha.
“He knows the geography, culture and conflict points of central India like the back of his hand. His political sharpness and combat credibility make him a strong contender,” Vij said. Unlike Devji, Venugopal is good at building political census, managing local recruitment and negotiating the regional dynamics.
With shrinking Maoist stronghold due to agressive anti-naxal operations of the security forces, it remains to be seen how long before the Naxal movement cedes the ground.
