The country’s Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah, is considered one of those politicians whose words and actions are indistinguishable. Mr. Shah has a reputation as a determined politician, as well as a skilled and astute political strategist. He is also considered the architect of the ruling party, the BJP’s electoral strategy. The new party president, Mr. Jagat Prakash Nadda, has been actively pursuing the strategy he developed for the party during his tenure as national president, resulting in resounding electoral victories for the BJP. While the BJP failed to achieve success in some states, the party’s influence has certainly increased in those states. The Home Minister’s goal is to eliminate the Naxalite problem from the country by March 31, 2026. Under his leadership, police and paramilitary forces are progressing rapidly to this end, successfully eliminating Naxalite leadership every month.
In a similar vein, yesterday, police in Odisha killed notorious Naxalite leader Paka Hanumanthu, alias Ganesh, alias Chamu, along with five other Naxalites. Hanumanthu, who had a government bounty of ₹1 crore (approximately $10 million) on his head, was considered a top leader of the banned Maoist Communist Party and had several other aliases. Ganesh, 67, hailed from Telangana’s Nalgonda district and fell in with the Naxalites after failing to complete his B.Sc. degree. He was also known by the aliases Rupa and Rajesh Tiwari in various Naxal-affected areas. Ganesh’s death is considered a milestone toward Mr. Shah’s stated goal of achieving a “Naxal-free India” by April 2026. With this, the end of the Naxalite problem, which has persisted in India since the 1960s, is now considered near.
In fact, the problem of Naxalism in India has been particularly severe in tribal-dominated states, primarily Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Before the Modi government, when Dr. Manmohan Singh was in power at the center, this problem was particularly serious, as Naxalites frequently attacked police forces. At that time, Dr. Manmohan Singh had described Naxalism as a bigger problem than terrorism, but the views of his own Home Ministers, the late Shivraj Patil and Mr. P. Chidambaram, were considered different. While Mr. Lal Krishna Advani, Home Minister of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that preceded Manmohan Singh’s government, was also considered very strict on the issue of Naxalism. However, the Congress Party believed that Naxalism was a problem of the country’s own misguided youth, who could be brought back to the right path through dialogue. Therefore, the Naxalite policies of Mr. Patil and Chidambaram were also in line with this.
However, Mr. Shah’s view on this matter is very clear, stating that Naxalism directly challenges the Indian Constitution because Naxalites believe that power in the country can be changed not through the right to vote but through the bullet of a gun. Therefore, what justification can there be for negotiating with such traitors? No concessions can be made to such individuals by labeling them as misguided. Therefore, it is essential that the government treat Naxalites who surrender and lay down their arms with leniency and encourage them to abandon the path of violence and follow the path of peace. For this, it is crucial that the government strictly implement its “no tolerance” policy. In Gandhi’s country, violence as a means of politics cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, because the Naxalites’ objective is political, and they seek to exercise their rule in their areas of influence through extra-constitutional means.
Wherever Naxalites gain influence, they first disrupt government development projects and incite sentiments of armed rebellion against the government. India, however, is a country governed by law and the Constitution, so even negotiating with such individuals is of no use. Due to this government policy, the elimination of Naxalites in the country appears to be reaching its final stages. As for Ganesh, he was one of the few remaining Naxalite leaders. So far, security forces have succeeded in eliminating most of the leaders originating from Andhra and Telangana, bringing relief to people in other Naxal-affected states as well.
Ganesh joined the Naxalite movement at a young age. He was the same notorious Naxalite who, in May 2013, took part in the Jhirham Valley attack in the Sukma region of Chhattisgarh, killing several top Congress Party leaders. Among them were former Union Minister Shri Vidyacharan Shukla, former Chhattisgarh Minister Mahendra Karma and State Congress President Nand Kumar Patel. The police has done a commendable job by killing such a dreaded Naxalite in Odisha. Ganesh had started his Naxalite activities from Nalgonda district in 1981 when he was a student leader and a member of the Revolutionary Student Organization. Then he had violently attacked Achuri Srinivas, the leader of the Akhil Vidyarthi Parishad. Later, Achuri Srinivas was murdered by the same student organization only because he was ideologically opposed to Maoism.
