Naxalism will be eliminated from the country by March 21, 2026: Amit Shah in Parliament

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that 380 Naxals have been killed within a span of one year in Chhattisgarh since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in the state.

Replying to the debate on the workings of his ministry in Rajya Sabha, Shah outlined the steps taken by the BJP-led government to strengthen internal security and said Naxalism will be eliminated from the country by March 21, 2026.

Shah listed the steps taken by the government to tackle terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Naxal challenge, drug abuse, and problems in the Northeast.

Shah also blamed the Congress party – in power under Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel before BJP's 2023 victory – for treating Naxals as a political issue.

Govt which works for security

“What happens when there is a government which considers naxalism a political issue and what happens when a government which works for security as well as development comes to power,” Shah said speaking in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing second leg of Parliament's Budget Session.

“When BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2023, after that, 380 naxals were killed in just a year while 30 naxals killed yesterday have not been added to this. 1194 were arrested and 1045 surrendered,” Shah said.

A jawan of the Bijapur District Reserve Guard (DRG) was killed and bodies of 30 naxals were recovered in two separate encounters in Chhattisgarh on Thursday

The number of active Maoists has come down to 2619, the Home Minister said. "In these operations, 26 security personnel died. This is the same Chhattisgarh, same Police, same CRPF and same Government of India. It was just the Congress Govt in power there...This is a question of approach," Shah said, targeting the Congress party.

Defying all pollsters and predictions, the BJP won an absolute majority with 54 seats in the 90-member Chhatisgarh assembly in 2023. The saffron party wrested power from the Congress which had won a landslide in 2018 but could win only 35 seats in 2023 polls. BJP leader Vishnu Deo Sai took oath as the fourth chief minister of the state on December 13, 2023.

Shah said the country would get free of the "Naxal problem" during the term of the BJP-led government.

"I say it in this House with responsibility that Naxalism in this country will be eliminated by March 21, 2026," he said.

‘Involvement of youth with terrorists disappeared in J-K’

Speaking on Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said that after the removal of Article 370, the involvement of Indian youth with terrorists has almost disappeared.

"Ten years ago, terrorist glorification was common, and funeral processions would take place. But now, when terrorists are killed, they are buried on the spot. Relatives of terrorists who once enjoyed government perks have been ruthlessly removed from government posts to send a strong message," he said.

Shah also thanked Constitution makers for making Article 370 temporary and providing a solution for its removal within the same article. "However, vote bank politics kept it safeguarded. But on August 5, 2019, PM Modi took the historic step of removing it, marking the beginning of a new era of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India," he said.

(With ANI inputs)