Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said security forces have been carrying out “offensive operations” instead of defensive against Naxals and have achieved big successes in recent times. Addressing Chief Ministers and top officials of the Naxal-affected States, Shah said due to the improved security situation, high voter turnout  up to 70 per cent  was witnessed in the Maoist-hit region in the last Lok Sabha polls. There was zero polling in the region earlier, he said.

The crucial meeting, which discussed anti-Naxal operations and development initiatives carried out in the affected areas, came days after the security forces killed 31 ultras in the forests of Chhattisgarh in one of the most successful operations against them in recent times. “Security forces are now carrying out offensive operations instead of defensive operations earlier,” Shah said.

Describing Naxals as the biggest hurdle to development, Home Minister said they are the biggest human rights violators who have been depriving over eight crore people of development and basic welfare opportunities. The Naxal-affected states include Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence has come down by 72 per cent while there was an 86 per cent decline in deaths in 2023 as compared to 2010. Naxals are fighting their last battle now, officials said.

More than 230 LWE cadres have been eliminated so far this year, 723 LWE cadres have surrendered and 812 have been arrested. The number of LWE-affected districts is just 38 now.

The Central Government has taken many steps, including giving impetus to road and mobile connectivity, to take development schemes to the remotest areas of the affected States.

A total of 14,400 km of road length has been constructed and nearly 6,000 mobile towers have been installed in LWE-affected areas so far, said Home Ministry in a statement.