Amit Shah: BJP will make India Naxal-free by 2024 polls

RAIPUR: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday indicated that the Maoist menace in the country will  be completely eradicated before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Shah said that the territories under Maoist influence have shrunk considerably and the incidents of Naxal violence have come down drastically due to the actions taken by the Narendra Modi government.

He said that the country had witnessed 2,258 incidents related to Naxal violence in 2009, which have sharply declined to 519 in 2021.

The twin strategies of the Modi government, which include undertaking developmental works in the Maoist-infected areas as well as firm action against the Naxals, have yielded dividends in tackling Left-wing extremism in the country, he added.

He said that the Congress government at the Centre had neglected the tribals and added that it was the Modi government at the Centre that focused on the development of the tribals in the country.

An allocation of Rs 21,000 crores was made in the Central budget when the NDA government came to power at the Centre in 2014. The allocation has been increased by almost four times to Rs 83,000 crores in 2022, he said.
He also highlighted other programmes undertaken by the Modi government for the development of the tribals.

Shah said that major corruption cases surfaced in the Bhupesh Baghel government in the state and added that action will be taken in the matter.
This was the second tour of Shah to Chhattisgarh in the last six months. He had last visited Chhattisgarh on August 27 last year.