Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh): The Maoists are without doubt on the retreat for the first time in four long decades in Bastar — and so seems to be the ruling Congress in the sprawling tribal-majority region in Chhattisgarh.
The de-escalation of the long-running Maoist violence may not be the only reason, but a week-long tour of the largely-forested region reveals that the Congress is most unlikely to sweep the region as it did five years back.
Inhabitants of the 40,000 sq km region, where Maoists ran a state within a state for long mocking the authorities, insist that Leftist violence has dipped significantly, creating a perfect ambience for peaceful polling in the picturesque terrain.
For a region that has had a track record of election-related violence, this is indeed a compliment.
Tribal people dominate Bastar region, which has 12 Assembly seats seats that will go to the polls on November 7.
The ruling Congress had won 11 seats in the last polls in 2018 while the BJP managed victory only in Dantewada. However, the Congress blanked out the saffron party in Bastar with a resounding win in the bypoll, which was necessitated after BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed by Maoists in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
“For the first time since late 1980s, when Maoists started planned violence in the forested patches, Bastarias (residents of Bastar) are feeling less threatened. In fact, Maoists violence has subsided heavily and Bastar is all set for relatively peaceful polling after four decades,” claimed 55-yr old Lakhan Kunjam, who hails from the Darbha block at Jheeram valley in Bastar district.
The heavily forested Jheeram valley is the notorious site where Maoists had sprayed bullets on a convoy of top Congress leaders on May 30, 2013.
The site now has an open-air poorly pillared walled memorial in which 27 framed photos of martyred persons have been attached as a mark of respect, including those of former Union minister V.C. Shukla, then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, and former minister and anti-Maoist crusader Mahendra Karma, nicknamed as ‘Bastar Tiger’ for his fearless political campaign against armed Leftist outfits.
Political analysts say that Bastar is heading for a split verdict in the Assembly polls rather than blindly favouring the Congress, just like in 2018.
The BJP has been running a high-voltage door-to-door campaign in the interiors as there are enough signs that roughly 40,000 para-military troopers stationed at sensitive pockets all over Bastar have managed to cease rampant violence with the active support of peace-loving tribals.
The BJP is systematically running a campaign focused on the religious conversation issue, mainly in Narayanpur, Bijapur, Sukma, Dantewada and Bastar districts and is attempting to persuade tribals that Christian missionaries are getting poor Hindus converted and the Congress regime in the state is either sitting idle or willingly allowing it to happen.
The Congress refutes the charges and describes it as a ploy of the BJP to stoke up communal feelings for political gains.
“The most startling news that people of India can note down about Bastar is that its inhabitants are all set to exercise their franchise on November 7 in the most peaceful ambience in four decades. There is no Maoists fear now, and I hope Bastar will be a tourists’ paradise in years to come,” said Santosh Poyami, a 62-yr-old farmer from Bhairamgarh in Bijapur district.
–IANS