In heart of Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh, first panchayat elections in 15 years | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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In heart of Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh, first panchayat elections in 15 years

Hindustan Times, Bastar | ByS Kareemuddin and Ritesh Mishra
Jan 22, 2020 03:39 PM IST

Officials claim it shows dwindling influence of rebels in the region, which is also backed by official data.

Five village panchayats in the Maoist affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh will elect a village body for the first time in 15 years, according to district officials.

Authorities say this indicates that influence of Maoists has drastically reduced in the region.(Representative photo)
Authorities say this indicates that influence of Maoists has drastically reduced in the region.(Representative photo)

Unlike the previous elections, when several villages boycotted the rural local body polls, officials said in the districts of the Bastar region - Dantewada, Sukma, Jagdalpur, Kondagaon, Kanker and Narayanpur - the report of boycott has been received from only from two villages.

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The elections will be held in three phases - on January 28, 31 and February 3.

Several villages have joined the electoral process this time with Bade Gudra, Chhota Gudra, Badegadam, Telam and Tekam village panchayats of the Dantewada district witnessing candidates filing nomination for the first time in last fifteen years. Dantewada is one of the affected districts by the Maoist problem.

“In four of these village panchayats only one candidate filed nomination for sarpanch post and hence was declared unopposed. In Bade Gudra, elections will be held for the first time ever on January 31,” said Topeshwar Verma, Dantewada district collector.

The collector said this indicates that influence of Maoists has drastically reduced in the region and people are now eager to take benefit of different government schemes.

“People are now trusting government and want to fight for their rights,” he said, adding that Maoists prevented the locals from participating in the local body polls. The area comes under Malangir area committee of CPI (Maoist), one of the strongest rebel units in the region.

Data released by Chhattisgarh government in January 2020 shows that Maoist violence in 2019 is lowest since 2014 in terms of security personnel killed and encounters. Only 22 security personnel were killed in 2019 as compared to 58 in 2018.

Chhattisgarh Director General of police, DM Awasthi, had said in first week of January that 214 Maoists have been killed in the state in the last two years, with majority in Bastar region, the highest in last decade, and had dealt a severe blow to the rebels. In addition, several Maoists either surrendered or got arrested in the past few months further depleting the top rank of the Maoists, he had said.

Superintendent of Police, Dantewada, Abhishek Pallav, however, attributed the people joining the electoral process to increased presence of security forces inside the jungles through new camps for building confidence among people.

“For the first time, candidates filed nominations for all posts like panch, sarpanch, janpad panchayat and zila panchayat in some of these areas. There has been no pamphlet or wall painting by Maoists regarding boycott of panchayat elections,” he said.

Surendra Thakur, deputy collector of Bijapur, said, “In Bijapur, there are 170 village panchayats. Of these, village heads were declared unopposed in 43 panchayats. In only two villages, Balaguda and Mallampenta, polls have been boycotted,” he said, claiming that in last rural body polls around one-third of panchayats in the district have boycotted the polls.

Some police officials said that many of the village heads elected unopposed have support of Maoists.

“Many of the village heads elected unopposed are supported by Maoists and no one dares to stand against them in these villages,” said inspector general, Bastar, Sunderaj P. He also said that there are some panchayats which have been elected through consensus as extra money is given to such villages.

Residents of these villages welcomed the change.

“We are happy because the elections are happening and we would also get development like other villages. The fear of rebels is much less now,” said Arun Prakash, a resident of Kuankonda area in Dantewada.

“After the death of (Bharatiya Janata Party) MLA Bheema Mandavi, tribals went against Maoists and this is the very reason that people are taking part in panchayat elections. Last time people were in fear but not this time,” said Shyama Lal, a resident of Bade Gudda village of Dantewada.

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