 "Are Naxals on the back foot?")
"Maoists are like tigers. You fear them if you see them occasionally. See them every day and it becomes a part of life," says Bindyachal Prasad while serving snacks at his makeshift shop in Barwaiyakala village of Jharkand's Latehar district.
The village, in Manika block, is among the worst Naxal-affected areas of the state. The Tritya Prastuti Committee, an offshoot of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), is the dominant group here.
Variously known as Party, Jungle Sarkar (parallel government), Maobadi and Bhaiji, the insurgents emerge from the surrounding forests to accost villagers for intelligence about the administration.
Despite the incident, villagers of Barwaiyakala almost uniformly say the fear of the Maoists is declining. "Things have changed," says Virendra Paswan, recollecting days when Maoists would beat voters for violating their boycott. "On voting day, people wait for others to cast the first vote. When they see two or three people have voted, they throng the polling booths," adds Paswan, a resident of Janho village near Barwaiyakala.
Security personnel with sophisticated weapons and anti-mine vehicles will start pitching their tents a fortnight before polling day. This bore fruit during the 2010 panchayat elections in Jharkhand, with 65 per cent of the electorate in Naxal-affected areas casting their vote.
"We will deploy additional forces in the districts affected by Left-wing extremism. The number will depend on the requirement of the districts concerned and the collectors are working out the details", says Mona Sharma, Odisha's chief electoral officer. "So far, we have not received any report of voters being intimidated in these districts. In the last elections in Odisha, the average turnout here was 64 per cent."
But the hill tribes of Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in Odisha, too, have threatened to boycott polls. Of the 1.1 million registered tribal voters in the undivided Koraput region, nearly 60 per cent belong to hill tribes and their boycott could hurt the turnout in these Naxal-infested districts.
"The hill tribes of undivided Koraput are deprived of forest rights available to reserved tribes," says Govind Chandra Khada, president of the Banabasi Bikash Mahasangha, an organisation of these tribes. A boycott by the hill tribals can pull down the voter turnout in the region by up to 60 per cent," he adds.
In Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, electoral rolls, not extremists, decide the turnout. In the 2008 Assembly elections, Bastar recorded about 65 per cent turnout. This went up to 71 per cent in 2013, raising the spectre of widespread rigging. "The voters' lists have been scrutinised and the names of dead voters have been deleted. That has made all the difference," says Krishna Thakur, an expert on Bastar affairs based in Lohandiguda.
"The number of voters is large and the rebels do not risk targeting such a big support base," says G P Singh, inspector general of police, Chhattisgarh, the nodal police officer during last year's Assembly elections. "Give me sufficient force and I can guarantee free and fair polling that will enhance the voter turnout," he says.
On February 22, more than 100 Naxals surrounded the Amas police station in Bihar's Gaya district around 11 pm and began firing at the policemen inside. The skirmish went on for two and a half hours and the rebels retreated only after reinforcements arrived. "We were outmanned," says a policeman present in the station that night.
"Naxal incidents have come down in recent years. However, it does not mean they no longer pose a threat," says S K Aullah, a social activist in Gaya. "Before every election, they try to scare off voters," he adds. The Gaya incident was not an isolated attack. In December, Naxals blew up a police vehicle in Aurangabad, killing seven policemen. In October, a civilian vehicle was targeted, in which a former area commander of the Ranvir Sena was killed along with half a dozen supporters. In June, a group of 200 Naxals targeted a train in Jamui, killing three persons and injuring six others.
"We know Naxals are active in this region. They are more interested in their levy business than the revolution," says a Bihar police official. The Naxals often demand money from construction companies and contractors working on infrastructure projects in the form of a 'levy'. The levy is usually charged up to 10 per cent of the total project cost, but can go up to 20 per cent in some cases. In 2009, Naxals struck in several places in Aurangabad and Rohtas districts. Only 40 per cent of the voters here cast their votes.
Bihar has asked for more than 300 companies of central paramilitary forces for this year's elections. The deployment will be heavy in the Naxal-affected districts of Jamui, Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas and Kaimur.
The Maoist call for a poll boycott can be symbolic in places, says a political observer seeking anonymity. Since the rebels don't believe in democracy, they are forced to issue a whip on boycotting the democratic process, he adds.
"Naxals never threatened us over casting votes," points out Roopdhar Baghel of Kukanaar, a Naxal-affected village in Bastar. People in his village turn out in large numbers to vote despite the boycott. The rebels do not bother about who they are voting for, he adds.
It is in the nature of the insurgents' ideology that they do not ask villagers to vote for or against any particular candidate. If they do not impose their boycott, polling is, by and large, free and fair.
The administration is using this to its advantage. Deputy Commissioner of Latehar district Mukesh Kumar says his officers are encouraging people to vote. "We are administering an oath to around 100,000 people to cast votes and also organising a cricket match between the administration and politicians to raise awareness," adds Kumar, a young Indian Administrative Services officer who took charge of the district in February.
The village, in Manika block, is among the worst Naxal-affected areas of the state. The Tritya Prastuti Committee, an offshoot of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), is the dominant group here.
Variously known as Party, Jungle Sarkar (parallel government), Maobadi and Bhaiji, the insurgents emerge from the surrounding forests to accost villagers for intelligence about the administration.
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Rameshwar Singh from the same village sees the Maoists a little differently but he too is unafraid of them. "They are like snakes that appear from one side and disappear into another," says Singh, standing near a spot where the Tritya Prastuti Committee had torched a jeep a few days ago. The jeep was purportedly being used by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the ruling party in the state, to take people to a political rally for the Lok Sabha elections.
Despite the incident, villagers of Barwaiyakala almost uniformly say the fear of the Maoists is declining. "Things have changed," says Virendra Paswan, recollecting days when Maoists would beat voters for violating their boycott. "On voting day, people wait for others to cast the first vote. When they see two or three people have voted, they throng the polling booths," adds Paswan, a resident of Janho village near Barwaiyakala.
Security personnel with sophisticated weapons and anti-mine vehicles will start pitching their tents a fortnight before polling day. This bore fruit during the 2010 panchayat elections in Jharkhand, with 65 per cent of the electorate in Naxal-affected areas casting their vote.
"We will deploy additional forces in the districts affected by Left-wing extremism. The number will depend on the requirement of the districts concerned and the collectors are working out the details", says Mona Sharma, Odisha's chief electoral officer. "So far, we have not received any report of voters being intimidated in these districts. In the last elections in Odisha, the average turnout here was 64 per cent."
But the hill tribes of Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in Odisha, too, have threatened to boycott polls. Of the 1.1 million registered tribal voters in the undivided Koraput region, nearly 60 per cent belong to hill tribes and their boycott could hurt the turnout in these Naxal-infested districts.
"The hill tribes of undivided Koraput are deprived of forest rights available to reserved tribes," says Govind Chandra Khada, president of the Banabasi Bikash Mahasangha, an organisation of these tribes. A boycott by the hill tribals can pull down the voter turnout in the region by up to 60 per cent," he adds.
In Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, electoral rolls, not extremists, decide the turnout. In the 2008 Assembly elections, Bastar recorded about 65 per cent turnout. This went up to 71 per cent in 2013, raising the spectre of widespread rigging. "The voters' lists have been scrutinised and the names of dead voters have been deleted. That has made all the difference," says Krishna Thakur, an expert on Bastar affairs based in Lohandiguda.
"The number of voters is large and the rebels do not risk targeting such a big support base," says G P Singh, inspector general of police, Chhattisgarh, the nodal police officer during last year's Assembly elections. "Give me sufficient force and I can guarantee free and fair polling that will enhance the voter turnout," he says.
On February 22, more than 100 Naxals surrounded the Amas police station in Bihar's Gaya district around 11 pm and began firing at the policemen inside. The skirmish went on for two and a half hours and the rebels retreated only after reinforcements arrived. "We were outmanned," says a policeman present in the station that night.
"Naxal incidents have come down in recent years. However, it does not mean they no longer pose a threat," says S K Aullah, a social activist in Gaya. "Before every election, they try to scare off voters," he adds. The Gaya incident was not an isolated attack. In December, Naxals blew up a police vehicle in Aurangabad, killing seven policemen. In October, a civilian vehicle was targeted, in which a former area commander of the Ranvir Sena was killed along with half a dozen supporters. In June, a group of 200 Naxals targeted a train in Jamui, killing three persons and injuring six others.
"We know Naxals are active in this region. They are more interested in their levy business than the revolution," says a Bihar police official. The Naxals often demand money from construction companies and contractors working on infrastructure projects in the form of a 'levy'. The levy is usually charged up to 10 per cent of the total project cost, but can go up to 20 per cent in some cases. In 2009, Naxals struck in several places in Aurangabad and Rohtas districts. Only 40 per cent of the voters here cast their votes.
Bihar has asked for more than 300 companies of central paramilitary forces for this year's elections. The deployment will be heavy in the Naxal-affected districts of Jamui, Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas and Kaimur.
The Maoist call for a poll boycott can be symbolic in places, says a political observer seeking anonymity. Since the rebels don't believe in democracy, they are forced to issue a whip on boycotting the democratic process, he adds.
"Naxals never threatened us over casting votes," points out Roopdhar Baghel of Kukanaar, a Naxal-affected village in Bastar. People in his village turn out in large numbers to vote despite the boycott. The rebels do not bother about who they are voting for, he adds.
It is in the nature of the insurgents' ideology that they do not ask villagers to vote for or against any particular candidate. If they do not impose their boycott, polling is, by and large, free and fair.
The administration is using this to its advantage. Deputy Commissioner of Latehar district Mukesh Kumar says his officers are encouraging people to vote. "We are administering an oath to around 100,000 people to cast votes and also organising a cricket match between the administration and politicians to raise awareness," adds Kumar, a young Indian Administrative Services officer who took charge of the district in February.
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