Amit Shah, the Home Minister, announced the end of Naxalism in Bharat on the floor of the Lok Sabha on March 30, 2026. It is no mean achievement that he lived up to the promise of eliminating Naxalism, or Left Wing Extremism (LWE), from Bharat by March 31, 2026. He had publicly made this commitment on August 24, 2024, and such deadlines are never easy to achieve. Thus, full credit goes to Amit Shah for successfully neutralising the most challenging internal security threat in post-independence Bharat. After Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s most significant achievement of integrating more than 565 Princely States into the Indian dominion at the time of Partition in 1947, the success of eliminating LWE from Bharat places Amit Shah in the elite category of Home Ministers. Shah is also credited with the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Amit Shah complete freedom to chalk out an aggressive and time-bound strategy against LWE. After taking over as Home Minister in 2019 under the Modi 2.0 Government, Shah took several decisive steps to end Naxalism. The Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), State Police, commando units, and intelligence units were provided with high-tech equipment, and the logistical setup in the interiors was considerably improved. The forces steadily penetrated Naxal strongholds. Once the deadline was set by the Home Minister, with the backing of PM Modi, the forces operated with a sense of urgency and purpose. After the deadline was announced, 706 Naxals were killed, 2,218 were arrested, and 4,839 cadre members, including prominent Naxal leaders, surrendered.
To assess the success of the security forces, these are impressive figures achieved in a short time. However, as per intelligence reports, a handful of cadres in Sates like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, and Maharashtra are still active. Some prominent Naxal leaders, such as Ganapathi and Mishir Besra, are still elusive. Therefore, some immediate security concerns in the near future are feasible. Yes, the ideology of LWE stands defeated in Bharat, and the Modi Government deserves all the credit for pushing good governance into the Naxal strongholds liberated over the last decade. There should be further impetus for rapid development in the Naxal-affected areas, which have suffered economically and humanely.
Residual Threats and Road Ahead
From the remnant Naxals, the most obvious threat would be attempts to negate the Government’s claim that Bharat is Naxal Mukt and to embarrass the Modi Government. Towards this, the Naxals may target security forces in a spectacular ambush, as they used to carry out before 2014. They may also target a VIP convoy or a public meeting addressed by a prominent leader. Thus, the security forces and the State and district administrations should strictly enforce security protocols and religiously follow the laid-down SOPs. I strongly recommend that the security forces operating in Naxalism-affected areas maintain operational momentum for the next three months, ie, till June 30, 2026. A similar approach should be followed by the affected State and district administrations. States that have no active LWE cadre left should also remain vigilant.
The second security concern is to locate and neutralise a large number of landmines and IEDs laid by the Naxal cadre to deter the movement of security forces. Demining operations are time-consuming and risky. Therefore, the movement of local people to suspected mined areas has to be restricted until the entire area is sanitised. In addition, it is believed that the Naxals have hidden their relatively new and automatic weapons in safe havens. A large number of Naxals have surrendered with old and low-quality weapons. Such tactics are adopted by many insurgent groups operating in Bharat’s North East. There is a distinct possibility of such high-quality hidden weapons finding their way to Jammu & Kashmir or Manipur. Thus, combing and search operations by the security forces should continue.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 30 replied to the discussion in the Lok Sabha on the efforts to free the country from Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). Here are key Highlights of his address
- Naxalism is the product of Left-wing ideology
- Naxalism did not spread because of poverty; rather, poverty spread because of Naxalism
- Communist Party was not formed to oppose injustice, but to oppose our parliamentary system
- Days of those who indulge in Naxalite violence are now over
- Root cause of Naxalism is not lack of development but Left-wing ideology, which was accepted by the leader of then ruling party to win the Presidential electionin 1969
- Naxal-free India is one of the biggest successes of the Modi government
- How can a Communist Party whose foundation is inspired by the ideology of another country ever do good for India?
- Maoists did not choose the Red Corridor to oppose discrimination, but because the government’s reach was weak there
- Supporters of Left-wing ideology have not considered Bhagwan Birsa Munda, Shaheed Bhagat Singh or Subhas Chandra Bose as their ideals, but have instead chosen “Mao” as their ideal
- This is the Modi government — whoever picks up arms will have to face the consequences
- Naxal-free India is one of the most historic and important successes of the Modi government
- Entire credit for this goes to the Central Armed Police Forces, especially the jawans of COBRA and CRPF, the state police — particularly the Chhattisgarh Police and DRG jawans — and the local tribals
- Without the support of those in power, it would have been impossible to create a Red Corridor right in the middle of the country, stretching from Tirupati to Pashupatinath
- Left-wing ideology has lost its base, which is why all Leftists are busy inventing different theories to save their existence
- Objective of Left-wing ideology is to create a vacuum in the State, governance, Constitution and security, and then carry out bloodshed — and this will no longer succeed
- Naxalites burnt schools, dispensaries and banks in villages, and then misled people by saying that development had not reached there
- I have read many articles by intellectuals who talk about the human rights of Naxalites, but not a single one of them was written for the mother whose child was forcibly taken away by Naxalites or for the widows of the martyrs killed by Naxalites
- Guiding slogan of Left-wing ideology is not “Satyamev Jayate”, but “Power flows from the barrel of the gun”
- By living with Naxalites, the main opposition party and its leaders have themselves become Naxalites
- Whether it is meeting Naxalites or supporting them, leader of opposition always appears to stand with the Naxalites
- Naxalites, who run a parallel government and justice system and exploit tribals, are staunch opponents of democracy
The next concern would be to identify the support base of the Naxals, particularly in rural areas. These overground workers are called Rural Party Committee (RPC) members and number in the thousands across various Naxalism-affected states. It would be a challenge for both the security forces and the local administration to wean them away from the Naxal ideology and integrate them into society. Rural and remote areas should witness quick and visible signs of development to prove that the government cares for them. Some well-meaning NGOs can make a good contribution to augment or fill the voids in civil administration.
Lastly, the threat from Urban Naxals is likely to surface more prominently now. The remnant leadership of LWE may seek to propagate their ideology in small towns and cities that have not yet seen much development. The so-called Left Liberals may encourage unemployed youth to join them. Intelligence agencies have to be extremely vigilant to nip any such attempts in the bud. In some opposition-ruled States, the local administration may not be fully proactive towards Urban Naxals. A very high level of coordination between the Centre and State Governments is imperative in the near future before it can be said that LWE has been completely eliminated from Bharat.
Post-Independence, the near-elimination of LWE in March 2026, after nearly 59 years of this scourge impacting Bharat’s internal security, is a major historical milestone.
PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah deserve all the credit for their steadfastness in tackling this menace head-on with clear deadlines. Considering the history of the threat from
Naxals, there are some immediate security concerns that require the focus of both the Centre and the States. As of now, Bharat has every reason to celebrate the end of LWE from its soil with cautious optimism and dedicated governance.
