Taking a dig at the claims made by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel regarding the battle against naxalism, the former CM said that the role of the incumbent government on the naxal front is known to the people of Chhattisgarh and even to Bhupesh Baghel.
“The battle against naxalism started in Chhattisgarh after the BJP came to power (in 2003). Thereafter, the government recruited 70,000 youths in the police force, subjected them to better training, and also established a jungle warfare college,” stated Raman Singh.
“Moreover, the government equipped these recruits with modern weapons and also sent them to the north-east for training, following which a fighting force was developed here and the battle against naxalism started,” he added.
“The entire Surguja has been freed from the problem of naxalism, and few patches of Bastar are remaining due to their (Congress) will,” said Raman, adding that in the coming days, the BJP will definitely form the government and the problem will be resolved.
The BJP national vice president further emphasised that without conducting interstate operations and not letting the fighting force like the District Reserve Guards (DRG) carry out operations in forested patches, the war against insurgents cannot be won.
“We (BJP-led previous government in Chhattisgarh) were very ahead on this issue, and the problem has yet to be resolved so far,” he stated.
It may be recalled that in an interview with ANI recently, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel claimed that as people are busy with their work, family, and development, naxals are not getting an opportunity to execute incidents.
The CM had also claimed that earlier, ensuring ration to security forces (deployed in insurgency-hit areas) was difficult, but now everyone is getting the ration, even the common people.
He further elaborated that a major transformation witnessed in the region was that complete panchayat elections were held for the first time, no one hoisted the black flag on Independence Day, and around 300 schools were restarted in the region.
“The fresh example is that the election commission has shifted the polling centres, which were earlier established near roads, to interior villages, and polling booths established in restive villages are also evidence of our success,” said Baghel.
The first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 7. After the first phase of polling on November 7, the remaining 70 seats in the state will go to the polls on November 17. The counting of votes will be done on December 3.
Elections in Chhattisgarh will be contested on 90 assembly seats, and both the major contenders in the state, the BJP and Congress, have released their final list of all 90 candidates in the state. In the last assembly polls in 2018, the Congress recorded a landslide mandate, winning 68 of the 90 seats, while the BJP finished a distant second at just 15 seats.
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