Shah sets March 31 deadline to end Naxalism

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that Left Extremism will be completely eliminated before March 31, citing gains from a security-centric strategy, infrastructure development and disruption of Maoist financial networks.

Shah, who chaired a high-level security review meeting on Left Extremism in Raipur, said the measures taken by the Center and states are yielding positive results. “Security-oriented strategy, infrastructure development, targeting of Naxal financial network and surrender policy have yielded positive results and Naxalism will be completely eliminated before March 31,” he said in his post on

The review meeting was held weeks before the March 31 deadline set by the Center to eliminate the Maoist insurgency.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Union home minister, director of Intelligence Bureau and special secretary (internal security) of the Union home ministry attended the meeting held at a hotel in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar.

Besides Director Generals of CRPF, BSF, ITBP and NIA, police chiefs of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Telangana and other senior officers were also present.

Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, which consists of seven districts and shares borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, has long been considered a Maoist stronghold. The district has witnessed intensified anti-Naxal operations in the last two years, leading to a decline in extremist violence, officials said.

According to official data, since January 2024, more than 500 Naxalites, including senior cadres like CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju, have been killed in clashes in Chhattisgarh. During the same period, around 1,900 Naxalites were arrested in the state and more than 2,500 surrendered.