Hyderabad, March 3: During the Assembly polls of 2004, politicians did not dare to step out of their houses to campaign in some villages of Kamalapur in Karimnagar district for fear of Maoist attacks.
Residents of the area were also afraid that Maoists would launch an attack on polling day to disrupt elections. The whole campaign was punctuated by tension and fear of violence.
This is no longer the case. Politicians now come out freely to campaign and party workers can raise slogans without fear of flying bullets.
The upcoming elections will be a new experience for voters of Kamalapur and other erstwhile “Maoist-affected” constituencies. For the first time, they are going to vote freely.
“Now we don’t have any threat from the Maoists,” said the Telangana Rastra Samiti MLA from Kamalapur, Mr E. Rajender. “Our enemy is the government, which is implementing anti-people policies.”
Violent incidents were common not only in Karimnagar, but also Nizamabad, Warangal, Adilabad and Palnadu region in Guntur district in the polls of yesteryear.
Leaders did not dare to enter Maoist stronghold villages fearing for their life. The Maoists used to exhort people to boycott elections. Shootings, kidnappings, extortions, threatening calls, attacks on the government offices and encounters were the hallmark of elections.
With the shooting down and surrender of many Maoist leaders in the last few years, police has gained upper hand in these regions. And after two decades, there are expectations of a vibrant campaign in areas of the Nallamala forests in Guntur and Prakasam districts. “Maoist activities are on the wane now,” said the former home minister, and Praja Rajyam leader, Mr T. Devender Goud.
“They are resorting to attacks only when rulers do not address the problems of the poor.”
Mr Mantha Benzimen, a former Maoist who recently joined the Praja Rajyam, even asked the party chief, Chiranjeevi, to contest from Palnadu area in Guntur district. This could have been unimaginable four years ago.
The recent surrender of Sambasivudu, a top leader of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), is a classic example of the decreasing influence and morale of the Left-wing extremists in the state.
Maoists had suffered several body blows during the rule of Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu.
However, the peace process initiated by his successor, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, from May 2004 to January 2005, significantly weakened the position of the Maoists. Soon after the peace talks failed, the police, with the help of intelligence inputs, resumed combing operations in an aggressive manner.
The real downfall of Maoists began in 2005 in Nallamala forests with the leaders coming out of the Guttikonda bilam. Earlier, the police was unaware of the hideouts of the Maoists. But, after this incident, the police succeeded in tracing the hideouts and hunting down the Maoists.
Many top Maoist leaders were felled in encounters including Janashakti state committee member, Riaz, and the Maoist east division committee member, Dharmula Mallikarjun, in 2005.
The Nizamabad district committee secretary, Ramesh, was killed as well as another senior leader, Damera Vijaykumar Swamy alias Yadanna, and three of his associates.
Similarly, in Mahbubnagar, district committee and action team member, Gajji Srisailam, and his wife, Pushpakka, were killed at Achampet in 2005.
Senior leader Madhav and seven others were killed in an encounter in Prakasam district in 2006.
These were severe blows from which the Maoists were unable to recover.
“There was a 30 per cent decline in the Maoist activities during the year 2008,” said Mr K. Arvind Rao, additional director-general of police (intelligence). Though the decline of the Maoists began during the rule of Mr Naidu, it was Dr Reddy who really decimated them by adopting a two-pronged strategy.
On September 19, 2005, Mr Reddy announced his strategy of implementing developmental programmes in Maoist-affected districts to wean away potential recruits.
For this, he set up a remote and interior areas development department. Under the department, various schemes were undertaken in 15 districts including Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Anantapur, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Khammam.
“Maoist activities declined as my government had initiated various programmes for the development of remote and interior areas,” said the Chief Minister.
Alongside, the police developed the strategy of targeting only hardcore Maoist leaders and not sympathisers as before. Such measures further dried up the recruiting resources of Maoists.
Residents of the area were also afraid that Maoists would launch an attack on polling day to disrupt elections. The whole campaign was punctuated by tension and fear of violence.
This is no longer the case. Politicians now come out freely to campaign and party workers can raise slogans without fear of flying bullets.
The upcoming elections will be a new experience for voters of Kamalapur and other erstwhile “Maoist-affected” constituencies. For the first time, they are going to vote freely.
“Now we don’t have any threat from the Maoists,” said the Telangana Rastra Samiti MLA from Kamalapur, Mr E. Rajender. “Our enemy is the government, which is implementing anti-people policies.”
Violent incidents were common not only in Karimnagar, but also Nizamabad, Warangal, Adilabad and Palnadu region in Guntur district in the polls of yesteryear.
Leaders did not dare to enter Maoist stronghold villages fearing for their life. The Maoists used to exhort people to boycott elections. Shootings, kidnappings, extortions, threatening calls, attacks on the government offices and encounters were the hallmark of elections.
With the shooting down and surrender of many Maoist leaders in the last few years, police has gained upper hand in these regions. And after two decades, there are expectations of a vibrant campaign in areas of the Nallamala forests in Guntur and Prakasam districts. “Maoist activities are on the wane now,” said the former home minister, and Praja Rajyam leader, Mr T. Devender Goud.
“They are resorting to attacks only when rulers do not address the problems of the poor.”
Mr Mantha Benzimen, a former Maoist who recently joined the Praja Rajyam, even asked the party chief, Chiranjeevi, to contest from Palnadu area in Guntur district. This could have been unimaginable four years ago.
The recent surrender of Sambasivudu, a top leader of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), is a classic example of the decreasing influence and morale of the Left-wing extremists in the state.
Maoists had suffered several body blows during the rule of Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu.
However, the peace process initiated by his successor, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, from May 2004 to January 2005, significantly weakened the position of the Maoists. Soon after the peace talks failed, the police, with the help of intelligence inputs, resumed combing operations in an aggressive manner.
The real downfall of Maoists began in 2005 in Nallamala forests with the leaders coming out of the Guttikonda bilam. Earlier, the police was unaware of the hideouts of the Maoists. But, after this incident, the police succeeded in tracing the hideouts and hunting down the Maoists.
Many top Maoist leaders were felled in encounters including Janashakti state committee member, Riaz, and the Maoist east division committee member, Dharmula Mallikarjun, in 2005.
The Nizamabad district committee secretary, Ramesh, was killed as well as another senior leader, Damera Vijaykumar Swamy alias Yadanna, and three of his associates.
Similarly, in Mahbubnagar, district committee and action team member, Gajji Srisailam, and his wife, Pushpakka, were killed at Achampet in 2005.
Senior leader Madhav and seven others were killed in an encounter in Prakasam district in 2006.
These were severe blows from which the Maoists were unable to recover.
“There was a 30 per cent decline in the Maoist activities during the year 2008,” said Mr K. Arvind Rao, additional director-general of police (intelligence). Though the decline of the Maoists began during the rule of Mr Naidu, it was Dr Reddy who really decimated them by adopting a two-pronged strategy.
On September 19, 2005, Mr Reddy announced his strategy of implementing developmental programmes in Maoist-affected districts to wean away potential recruits.
For this, he set up a remote and interior areas development department. Under the department, various schemes were undertaken in 15 districts including Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Anantapur, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Khammam.
“Maoist activities declined as my government had initiated various programmes for the development of remote and interior areas,” said the Chief Minister.
Alongside, the police developed the strategy of targeting only hardcore Maoist leaders and not sympathisers as before. Such measures further dried up the recruiting resources of Maoists.
Take care, cops warn politicos
By Our Correspondent
Hyderabad, March 3: Despite the perceivable decline of the Maoists’ influence in the state, police still warn politicians to be careful.
“Since Maoists received severe body blows in the past two years, they may resort to attack politicians during campaigning only to prove that they still exist,” said Mr C.V. Sajjanar, superintendent of police of Warangal.
With the police gaining upper hand, Maoists have shifted their operations to north Andhra districts and adjoining Orissa. According to intelligence reports, Maoist dalams from Mahabubnagar and the Telangana Districts have migrated to the Andhra-Orissa Border region.
They have found hiding places here because of the hilly terrain due to weaker policing. Because of this, police has asked political leaders of North Andhra region not to remain careless on the safety front. They also warn them not to visit sensitive areas without adequate security.
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