The Naxals are known for their notorious activities especially just around the elections. This time too, the trouble from the naxals in Chattisgarh looms over the election.
Chief minister Raman Singh had said in Raipur that all the candidates have been informed of the risks.
He said, “The Naxals always carry out a big operation during every election and they protest against every election, whether it is the panchayat election, state elections or the general elections. They are against any process that is democratically carried out. This time also, there will be opposition from them and we go by the assumption that their activities go up during elections. So, it is important to be more cautious”.
The state has been informed by Anti-Naxal wings of intelligence units and security force officials operating in Chhattisgarh of possible Naxal activity in areas of Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur and Narayanpur.
A senior Intelligence officer said that, “The Naxals are planning attacks that are designed to target election rallies. From now, when Chhattisgarh is about to go to polls, till the time the 2019 general elections conclude, it will be a very volatile time in Chhattisgarh because the Naxals step up attacks during elections”.
CM Raman Singh said that despite the threats from the naxals, there has been an increase in the voters coming out to vote. He showed confidence in the safety cover provided by security forces. Recently, the EC had also taken up an initiative to encourage people to vote by askingthe voters to sign an affidavit called, ‘Jash Pran’ in Jashpur.
Five years before, Naxals had killed three Congress leaders and 25 others attending a political rally in Chhattisgarh. The state is taking all measures to prevent any such mishap this time.
The Union home ministry is providing additional battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to the state, while ministry officials added that extensive planning is done to ensure safe elections in states affected by Left-Wing Extremism.
A CRPF official said, “A deployment plan is being chalked out for all constituencies, keeping several factors in mind, such as the number of voters in that area and the number of polling stations. With that in mind, we will deploy forces on the ground, along with anti-mine vehicles and carry out sanitization exercises before any such election”.
There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh, the Election Commission said on Saturday. The state is set to go to polls in two phases. First,on November 12 and second on November 20.