Govt will end Naxalism by March 2026, says Nityanand Rai

Left Wing Extremism would be eliminated in the country by March 2026, and there has been a sharp decline in Naxal violence due to “zero tolerance” policy of the Narendra Modi Government, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he said, the problem of Left-Wing Extremism, or Naxalism as it is commonly referred to in India, dates back to 1968 and persisted over decades due to a lack of a national policy on it.

“India would be free of Naxalism by March 2026. It could not be finished earlier because the Government in the Centre believed it was a problem of the states. This problem has been there since 1968, from Pashupati to Tirupati, there used to be a red corridor. Due to this, there was a threat to internal security,” Rai said.

“Now the Modi Government has a solid policy, and Naxalism is going to be eliminated soon with our “zero tolerance policy and leadership,” he said.

He also accused the previous Governments of not taking strong action against Naxalism due to their “vote bank politics”.

“Previous Governments and some parties compromised with forces which propagated violence, and were working against national interests,” he alleged.

The minister said in 2010, as many as 1,005 people had died in LWE incidents, which came down by 90 per cent to only 100 in 2025. While 1,936 incidents of LWE violence were reported in 2010, it came down by 88 per cent to 234 in 2025, he noted.

“Since June 2019, 33 top Naxals, who were important and established leaders, have been killed; 16 CCM (Central Committee Members) and (PBMs) Politburo Members (PBMs) were neutralised. Since 2019, 1,149 cadres have been killed, 7,409 have been arrested, and 5,880 Naxals have surrendered. The result is that Naxalism is ending,” he said. Congress MP Rajeev Shukla, while asking a supplementary question, said all Governments, including the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government and the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Governments, have worked towards ending Naxalism. He also said the previous Congress Government in Chhattisgarh, led by Bhupesh Baghel, also cooperated with the Union Government in the fight against Left Wing Extremism.

Rai, however, accused the Baghel Government of “not cooperating” with the Central Government as much as they should have.

“I will not name the Government, but the Government you named, they did not cooperate as much as they should have,” he said. He alleged that the then Congress Government had tried to file FIRs against police officers who led operations against Naxals.

“You can’t fight Naxalism while lowering the morale of the forces,” the minister said.