DD channel cameraman, 2 policemen killed in Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh

HIGHLIGHTS

Doordarshan team covering Chhattisgarh polls was accompanied by a police team
2 injured police personnel are undergoing treatment at Dantewada district hospital
Several Union ministers condoled journalist’s death and condemned the Naxal ambush

One mediaperson and two policemen were killed after Naxals carried out an attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada. Two other security personnel were also injured in the attack, which took place in Dantewada’s Aranpur area.

The mediaperson who died was Achyutananda Sahu, a cameraman with the state-run broadcaster Doordarshan. The two policemen were with the district force.

“Those killed were identified as sub-inspector Rudra Pratap, assistant constable Mangalu and DD News cameraman Achyutananda from Delhi,” Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operations) Sundarraj P told news agency PTI.

The Naxals ambushed a squad of local police which was carrying out patrolling on motorcycles from Sameli camp towards Nilawaya on Tuesday morning, he said.

A three-member team of Doordarshan was travelling for election-related news coverage at the same time and was caught in the cross-fire, he said.

Achyutananda Sahu was part of the team that included a reporter and a light assistant.

Teams of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) were immediately rushed to the forest to trace the ultras, the DIG added.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh police personnel injured in the attack, Vishnu Netam and Rakesh Kaushal have been referred to Raipur from the district hospital in Dantewada where they were undergoing treatment.

Condoling the death of Sahu, the director general of Doordarshan said, “Our hearts go out to the families of our brave cameraperson Shri Achyutananda Sahu and CRPF Jawans who laid down their lives in the line of duty.”

Prasar Bharati, which supervises Doordarshan, too condoled the cameraperson’s death in a separate tweet.

Soon after, Doordarshan put out a statement saying, “The entire DD News family salutes his service and stands by his family in this hour of grief.”

The minister information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore too condoled Sahu’s death. “Deeply saddened by the demise of our cameraman Achyuta Nanda Sahu and two jawans… These insurgents will NOT weaken our resolve. We WILL prevail,” Rathore said in a tweet.

Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal followed suit and said, “Pained and angered at the Naxal attack on CPRF jawans and DD News crew in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. I strongly condemn such a cowardly and dastardly act.”

The Doordarshan team was in Nilawaya village in Aranpur, where voting will be held for the first time in history.

Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on November 12 and 20.

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Raipur diary: Chhattisgarh CM launches poll campaign, Congress mum on manifesto

Raman launches Bastar poll campaign

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh kicked-off the BJP’s Bastar mission with the agenda of peace and development. Noting that growth of the region at four-time the original rate was his main agenda, Singh said the Bastar region remains a priority even for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bastar region, larger than Kerala in an area, is affected by the Maoist violence. Political parties believe the tribal belt holds a key to the formation of the government.

It is also true that the myth about ‘road to power from Bastar’ was dented in 2013 when the Congress won eight of the 12 seats from Bastar. Modi will address his first election rally at Jagdalpur in Bastar on November 9.

Congress to maintain secrecy on manifesto

Without naming the BJP, chairman of Congress manifesto Chairman T S Singhdeo claimed that during the previous elections, the opposition took out a leaf out of its manifesto which it had declared before. Singhdeo was referring to the Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,000 and a bonus of Rs 250 which the Congress had mentioned in its manifesto. Later, the BJP had allegedly revised its own manifesto and hiked up the MSP and bonus to Rs 2,100 and Rs 270 for peddling them as their main poll agenda.

The Congress state committee is likely to release the manifesto after the ruling BJP, sources in the Congress said. A total confidentiality is being maintained while preparing the manifesto this year, they added.

‘Happea’ for happiness and peace

The word ‘Happea’ sounds strange, but the mission is noble. The word derives its name from the first three letters of ‘happiness’ and ‘peace’. In fact, this is the prime objective of Raipur-based academician Jawahar Surisetti behind the launch of a unique web-portal.

The portal is built on the premise that different age groups have different definitions and reasons for happiness. The idea came to him after he was struck by the low ranking of India in the Global Happiness Index.

“There is a mismatch, with India being the spiritual capital of the world but also not being happy,” he said. The Happea movement caters to four segments – kids, teens, young adults, and senior adults.

Shortage of 2000 currency notes

The shortage of currency notes of 2000 denomination ahead of the Assembly polls is being linked to a rising demand of cash during the elections. The disappearing of these pink notes from the markets and ATMs has led to this suspicion gathering strength. Even though bankers admit that there is a shortage of these notes, they claim they cannot do anything as most of these notes in circulation is not returning to the banks. Bank customers are getting money in the denominations of K500, K200 and K100 from ATMs. “There is no unusual demand of K2,000 notes in the state. Either the hoarding (of these notes) is to be blamed, or the printing of such notes has stopped,” tax consultant Ramesh Warlyani said.

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Congress discusses candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh state polls

The assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two-phases on November 12 and 20 while Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28

The Congress on October 26 discussed names of candidates for Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and second-phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, party sources said.

The Congress Central Election Committee met under Rahul Gandhi late in the evening here and decided names of candidates for a number of seats for the two states but did not make them public.

The assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two-phases on November 12 and 20 while Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28.

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Chhattisgarh Elections 1st phase: Last date for withdrawal of candidature today

Today is the last date of withdrawal of candidature for the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections to 18 constituencies which goes to polls on 12 November.

230 persons have filed their candidature for 18 constituencies. Twelve out of the 18 constituencies fall in the Maoist affected region of the state.

The notification for the second phase, will also be issued today for the remaining 72 constituencies which go to polls on 20th of next month. The last date of filing nominations is 2nd of November and scrutiny will take place the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures for second phases is 5th November.

The State has 90 assembly constituencies out of which 29 constituencies are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

Counting of votes will take place on 11 December along with Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.

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Chhattisgarh Polls 2018: 5 years and a third front later, how will NOTA votes pan out this election?

In 2013, more than one-third of Chhattisgarh’s 90 assembly seats saw NOTA taking the third place, while 17 out of these seats polled more than 5,000 NOTA votes.

During the 2013 assembly elections across four states and one Union Territory, Chhattisgarh polled the largest number of ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) votes. It was the first time that the option was introduced, and it enabled voters to reject all contesting candidates.

The polls in Chhattisgarh saw about 4,01,058 NOTA votes being polled, which comprised 3.15 percent of the total valid votes cast in all the 90 assembly constituencies of the state.

More than one-third of these 90 seats saw NOTA taking third place, while 17 seats polled more than 5,000 NOTA votes.

Seven out of these 17 seats, meanwhile, saw an interesting turn of events in that the NOTA votes were more than the difference between votes polled by candidates. For instance, Baikunthpur constituency saw the BJP candidate winning 45,471 votes against Congress’ 44,402, with a margin of 1,069 votes. On the other hand, the NOTA votes polled in the region were 3,265.

Five years and a third front later, how will these votes pan out in Chhattisgarh?

NOTA campaign

This time, a concentrated NOTA campaign has been separately launched by Raipur-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Kunal Shukla to “teach a lesson to the BJP government”.

“Our target is to go beyond the last assembly elections. This time, we plan to effect NOTA in more constituencies and in 15 legislative assemblies at least in future. We had done a similar campaign in Karnataka, and the BJP was defeated by NOTA due to this campaign,” Shukla told Moneycontrol. The campaign is being spearheaded, according to Shukla, because “the BJP voters have been duped by its government”.

“The government has betrayed its ideology,” Shukla said. “Take, for instance, those who wanted Ram Mandir, or who hoped that Article 370 would be scrapped, or the voter who wanted Akhand Bharat and common civil code… all these people feel betrayed. And they can’t go to any other party. This campaign is for such voters,” he added.

“We are spreading the campaign through social media. In Raipur, we have created a WhatsApp group, and we are creating such groups in every booth with a regional head of the campaign. We will also form teams and propagate the campaign at every single booth by explaining to the people how this government has been dishonest with them,” Shukla said, adding that the aim of the campaign is to “teach a lesson to those who have duped the upper castes and the Hindus”.

Bhawesh Jha, a psephologist and a political observer, however, feels that the NOTA trend is ending.

“People who voted for NOTA last time around might not vote in the same numbers this time because they see an option now,” Jha told Moneycontrol. The option being the recently announced Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) alliance.

The third-front factor

Observers like Jha feel that the addition of the BSP-JCC combine into the equation in Chhattisgarh might transfer a chunk of the 2013 NOTA votes to the third front. This is especially since both BSP, led by Mayawati, and JCC, led by former Congress leader Ajit Jogi, have a considerable Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) influence.

“Whenever there’s a new combination, we have to see where the combination’s vote bank is. Since the BSP-JCC combine has the SC/ST voter base, the NOTA vote could be transferred,” Jha said. “Plus, in places where NOTA was polled more are Maoist-affected areas, they tend to boycott elections. NOTA was introduced for the first time in 2013, perhaps people had used it as a way of boycott,” he added.

Reports suggested that most of the NOTA votes during the 2013 assembly elections were polled in the Naxal-affected tribal belt of the state. For instance, in Bijapur, south Chhattisgarh, as many as 10.1 percent of voters chose NOTA over other candidates— it stood third in a battle between seven candidates in the region. The case repeated in Dharamjaigarh, an ST constituency where NOTA stood third in a battle between eight candidates.

“See, NOTA doesn’t necessarily mean that the vote went against Congress or BJP as a party. It might have been influenced by local candidates, which the people chose to reject,” said Amit Kumar Gupta, assistant professor of political science at Guru Ghasidas Central University in Bilaspur. “As far as the third front is concerned, it is not something new that has emerged. It is basically a part of the Congress. And I don’t think BSP will play as important a role as is being expected. Even in 2013, I don’t think people voted for the one BSP candidate on the basis of the party line. They voted for the candidate,” Gupta said. “Ajit Jogi’s influence in tribal areas has been constant. And it’s still there, but it would be difficult to understand if the NOTA votes would be transferred solely on the basis of that,” Gupta added.

Jha agreed, stating that for the past two years, ever since the party was formed, Ajit Jogi has been busy expanding his influence in the tribal areas and it might help him convert the NOTA voters into alliance voters.

Jogi, who formed JCC in 2016 after resigning from the Congress following the suspension of his son Amit Jogi for “anti-party” activities, is known to have a considerable sway over the Satnami community. The community has a dominant presence in 10 tribal seats in the state, nine out of which are being held by the BJP. “I think a lot of people are forgetting the fact that BJP is going to be equally at loss because of the BSP-JCC alliance. Even if the BSP-JCC alliance bags two or three seats out of those 10, that would matter to the BJP,” Jha said.

That said, Gupta reasoned, the NOTA voter can be a “floating” voter and his vote can go to any party. “In order to understand why NOTA was cast in such high numbers in 2013, I think the only option is to look at the reasons of individual voters who opted for NOTA. And that even the government is not allowed to do, let alone me and you,” Gupta added.

Shukla, however, feels that the NOTA votes were cast in a large number because of the frustration of the people. “The only reason people voted for NOTA was the disillusionment with political parties and their false promises,” Shukla said, adding that the BSP-JCC alliance would not change anything in the equation.

“In any case, the BSP vote share has been limited to 2-3 percent, which is not much,” Shukla said. “As far as Jogi and his son are concerned, I don’t think they will even be able to contest elections after this,” he added.

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Chhattisgarh polls: CPI surprises by announcing 5 candidates’ names

It was being said that the CPI was given just two seats after it joined the grand alliance between the JCC and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the elections. It was agreed that the CPI would field candidates from the two seats of Dantewada and Konta and in lieu of that, the Left party and its affiliated labour unions would campaign for the JCC-BSP candidates in some constituencies. However, the CPI’s announcement of five candidates now has raised fresh questions.

The five candidates that the CPI have announced are: Mangal Ram Kashyap from Jagdalpur; Ramchandra Nag from Kondagaon; Radhika Sori from Keshkala; Nandram Sori from Dantewada and Manish Kunjam from Kota, said a report in Naidunia. Chhattisgarh will go to elections on November 12 and 20 and the counting of the votes will take place on December 11. Four other states – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana are also going to polls around the same time.

In the 2013 elections, the CPI contested in 13 seats but failed to win a single seat. It polled over 86,000 votes and had a vote share of 0.7 per cent. The figure was worse than its show in the 2008 and 2003 elections respectively when it got 1.1 per cent vote share. It though failed to win a single seat on both those occasions.

Can the CPI gain from Mayawati and Jogi magic given the fact that everything is fine with its alliance with the BSP-JCC tie-up?

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BJP Releases List of 77 Candidates for Chhattisgarh Polls

The decision was taken after the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting of the party. Chief Minister Raman Singh is set to contest from Rajnandgaon seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party released its first list of 77 candidates for the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh on Saturday and announced to contest polls on 38 out of 119 seats in Telangana.

Among the 77 candidates announced out of a total of 90 Assembly segments, 14 are women candidates and 14 sitting MLAs have been replaced with new names, Union minister J P Nadda said. The list was finalised at the BJP’s central election committee meeting that was chaired by party president Amit Shah and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.

Among those fielded by the BJP include former IAS officer O P Chaudhary and tribal leader Ramdayal Uike, who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP.

Announcing the list, Telangana BJP election in-charge Nadda further said that BJP will also contest Mizoram Assembly elections on 13 seats.

Eighteen naxal-affected constituencies will go to polls in the first phase on November 12, while the rest of the 72 constituencies would go to polls in the second phase on November 20.

Earlier in the day, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had also released its second list of 12 candidates. The party has forged an alliance with former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Communist Party of India, and will contest 33 Assembly seats.

Meanwhile, nine more candidates have filed nomination papers for the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls. This takes the number of candidates who have filed their papers to 11.

On Saturday, two candidates each filed their papers for Rajnandgaon, Antagarh and Dantewada seats and one each for Khairagarh, Dongargarh and Dongargaon, an official said.

For Dantewada seat, Congress’s Devti Karma and Communist Party of India’s (CPI) Nanda Ram Sori filed their papers. Karma is the sitting Congress MLA from Dantewada. Others who filed nomination papers Saturday included Dinesh Singh (Shiv Sena) from Khairagarh and Rajkumar Sahu (Shiv Sena) from Dongargaon.

Nominations cannot be filed on Sunday, it being holiday, so only two days — October 22 and 23 — are now left for filing of nominations for the first phase, the official said.

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‘We are in trouble there to defeat the BJP in Chhattisgarh’: Congress admits

When a senior Congress leader was asked about his party’s prospects in the three poll-bound Hindi heartland states, he had this assessment to offer: “We should win Rajasthan, it’s touch-and-go in Madhya Pradesh but I am not sure about Chhattisgarh… we are in trouble there.”

In Chhattisgarh, Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 12 and November 20. Madhya Pradesh will vote on November 28 and Rajasthan on December 7. The votes will be counted on December 11.

Reports from Chhattisgarh corroborate the Congress leader’s assessment. The Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party government has been in power for three consecutive terms. After 15 years at the helm, it would be safe to assume that the government faces anti-incumbency pressure and voter fatigue, which should make it easy for the Congress to dislodge it. On the contrary, the Congress has failed to get its act together and may just end up gifting another term to the BJP.

“It is a fact that the Congress campaign against the BJP here lacks punch,” said Chhattisgarh-based social activist Vikram Singhal. “Its leaders have not raised issues with the ferocity expected of an Opposition party that has been out of power for 15 years.”

Congress leaders have been attacking individuals and pointing to their misdemeanours but there is no concerted effort to take on the government’s anti-people policies and build a larger narrative, he said. “For instance, the Congress has failed to expose how this government has virtually sold the state’s rich natural resources to corporates and industrial houses,” he said. “No one talks about the large sums of money spent on building a new capital city, which is barely occupied by a handful of families.”

Chhattisgarh Congress leaders speak in the same vein. They admit that though there are a host of subjects on which they can pin down the BJP, their attack has, at best, been lacklustre. They say many senior party leaders have shied away from taking on the ruling dispensation because they are dependent on government handouts while others are virtually seen as an extension of the Raman Singh cabinet.

Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel's brush with controversy has not helped the Congress. (Credit: @INCChhattisgarh / Twitter)

Weak leadership

Most importantly, the Congress is handicapped by a weak state leadership.

Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel had barely settled into his job when he found himself in the eye of a storm. He was arrested in September in connection with the distribution of a pornographic CD allegedly featuring state minister Rajesh Munat. Munat has claimed that the CD is fake and an attempt to defame him.

Days later, Baghel was in the dock again, this time over an audio sting in which he is allegedly heard demanding money for tickets. The audio clip was delivered to Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi set up a five-member committee to scrutinise the recommendations of the state unit for the distribution of tickets – undermining Baghel’s position.

While the Congress is struggling to set its house in order, the BJP is moving ahead confidently, aware that it has several advantages over its political opponent. The party has ample resources, a well-oiled organisation, and governments both in the state and at the Centre. In addition, Raman Singh’s personal popularity has not been dented.

Poaching strategy

On the flip side, there is growing anger against BJP ministers and legislators. Taking note of this, BJP president Amit Shah announced that 50% of sitting MLAs would not be repeated. The party hopes to duck anti-incumbency against individual legislators by denying them tickets and fielding fresh faces. At the same time, BJP strategists are said to have identified seats where the Congress has a strong base with the express purpose of poaching the rival party’s candidates from these constituencies.

The BJP set the ball rolling with the induction of Ram Dayal Uike, working president of the Congress state unit and a top Adivasi leader, on October 13. Others could join him as the BJP’s “Operation Congress todo” (Operation break the Congress) is expected to gather momentum as the election draws near. It can be assumed that money power will be used for this campaign. The focus will be on Adivasi leaders as the Congress had done well among this community in the last Assembly election.

In fact, there is a growing fear in the Congress that the BJP will whisk away its candidates close to the date of filing nominations. This had happened twice in 2014. A day after the Congress had declared Bhagirath Prasad its candidate from Bhind Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, he had switched sides and contested as a BJP candidate. Months later, Manturam Pawar, the Congress candidate from Antagarh Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh, had ditched the party for the BJP after filing his nomination.

The Ajit Jogi factor

There is a common factor in these developments: former chief minister and rebel Congress leader Ajit Jogi. Both Uike and Pawar are known to be close to Jogi, who launched his party, the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh, in 2016. Known as the BJP’s B-team, Jogi worked in tandem with Raman Singh even when he was with the Congress. Now that he is out of the party fold, his primary aim is to destroy the Congress, political watchers say.

“Jogi will go to any length to ensure the defeat of Congress candidates and it is the same with the Congress,” said Singhal. In the process, he will help the BJP. Since the difference of vote share between the BJP and the Congress is a mere 0.7% and the margins of victory are narrow, the presence of a third party in a bipolar state will work to the saffron party’s advantage. The BJP is banking on Jogi to disturb the Congress’ Adivasi vote as the former chief minister has a substantial following among the Satnami community.

Moreover, Jogi’s partnership with Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has added a fresh dimension to electoral dynamics in Chhattisgarh. The two leaders have the potential to wean away a chunk of Adivasi and Dalit votes, which will hurt the Congress as it is also wooing the same social constituency. It was with an eye on consolidating the Dalit vote in its favour that the Congress had approached Mayawati for a tie-up in the Assembly polls. But the talks fell through and Mayawati announced in September that she had decided to go with Jogi instead.

While the Jogi-Mayawati alliance deals a blow to the Congress’ plan of winning over the Scheduled Castes, it could also have consequences for the BJP, which made major gains in Scheduled Caste reserved constituencies in the 2013 election. The BJP is, therefore, taking no chances and has set its sights on Congress candidates who can be persuaded to switch sides.

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Ensure BJP wins over 65 seats in Chhattisgarh: Amit Shah tells party Karyakartas

Shah claimed that the presence of nearly one lakh booth-level workers and their eagerness showed that the BJP would win 65-plus seats in the forthcoming state Assembly polls

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on October 13 asked the party workers to ensure that the saffron party retained power in Chhattisgarh in next month’s Assembly election by winning over 65 of the 90 seats.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be held in two phases — on November 12 and 20 — and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Shah was addressing a convention of the booth-level BJP workers from Raipur and Durg divisions at the Science College ground here.

He told the workers that the BJP had reached the “pinnacle of success”, but its target would only be achieved when it attained power in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.

Shah claimed that the presence of nearly one lakh booth-level workers and their eagerness showed that the BJP would win 65-plus seats in the forthcoming state Assembly polls.

“From 10 members, the party has grown to 11 crore members, becoming the world’s largest party. We have 1,800 MLAs, 330 MPs, governments in 19 states and a government at the Centre with full majority. The BJP flag is being hoisted over 70 per cent of the country’s area and the credit for it goes to the booth workers,” he said.

“Our struggle started in 1950 and today, we are fortunate to see this grand form of the party. The journey was not simple. Lakhs of our workers devoted and sacrificed their lives, as a result of which the party has reached here,” Shah said, adding that the workers of the saffron party continued to “sacrifice their lives” in Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

“As a result of a long struggle, the party has reached the pinnacle of success. But do not consider it as a success because Bengal, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are yet to be won,” he said.

“Party workers all over the country are watching the (upcoming) Assembly elections. The victories in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh should be such that they create a tsunami, which will ensure victory from West Bengal to Kerala,” the BJP chief told the gathering.

He said BJP workers were thrashed when Ajit Jogi (formerly with the Congress and now the chief of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh) was the chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2003.

Naxalism had thrived in the state under the Congress regime, Shah said, adding that it was crushed during the 15-year rule of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Heaping praise on Singh, the BJP chief said the chief minister had turned Chhattisgarh from a “bimaru” (backward) state to a “fast developing” state.

He said Singh now wanted to make Chhattisgarh a prosperous state over the next five years.

Shah told the booth-level workers of his party that poll victory would be achieved when they visited every house in their areas to apprise the people of the ruling BJP’s achievements.

He hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ordering surgical strikes in September, 2016 to smash terror camps operating out of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

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Boycott Chhattisgarh polls: Maoists

Chhattisgarh Police recovered banners and posters placed by the outlawed Maoists who gave a call for election boycott in the strife-torn districts of Bijapur and Sukma.

Ahead of the Assembly polls, Chhattisgarh Police recovered banners and posters placed by the outlawed Maoists who gave a call for election boycott in the strife-torn districts of Bijapur and Sukma about 350 km south of Raipur. Citing the election process as “fictitious” the Naxalites this year have issued a diktat to the villagers and their cadres to bring the political leaders who visit them during the election campaign to the ‘jan-adalat’ (kangaroo court). The Red brigade has nailed pamphlets and banners in support of it in the interiors.

“Bring them (politicians) who visit you seeking support and votes to the ‘jan-adalat’ where decisions would be taken (by us) on their canvassing. But chase away the BJP leaders”, the Maoists said in their statement. Owing to the Red terror the candidates and their supporters usually avoid campaigning in remote locations and restrict themselves to urban, sub-urban areas and major villages.

At the most they visit the weekly bazaar of the tribal villages to interact with the masses. There have been instances in the past when the Maoists have killed politicians who have gone to the interiors for campaigning. In 2008, two BJP leaders were hacked to death at Nakulnar in Dantewada.

“The Maoists have announced poll boycott. They are holding meetings in the villages and intimidating the villagers. They are asking them not to vote but we are simultaneously carrying out confidence-building measures, visiting tribal hamlets and interacting with the local populations.

Our preparations are well in place to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections in the entire Bastar region”, Vivekanand Sinha, Inspector-General of police (Bastar Zone) told TNIE.The administration has provided security to MPs, MLAs, ministers in Bastar. The police have asked the politicians to inform them and the respective district administration of the area they plan to visit.

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