C’garh polls: Politicians in Bastar avoid road trips

Fear of Naxal attack forces political leaders to avoid tours to different parts of insurgency-hit Bastar in Chhattisgarh by road in the election year.

The fear of attack by the Leftwing extremists in Bastar, particularly in an election year, is not unfounded considering the killing of four BJP leaders in the region in the last five months.

Chhattisgarh is going to Assembly polls along with four other states in

November-December this year. BJP national general secretary incharge of Chhattisgarh affairs Om Mathur, who wound up his four-day-visit to Bastar on Wednesday, toured all the 12 Assembly constituencies in the region to hold meetings of local party workers ahead of the yearend Assembly polls in a chopper.

“We hired a chopper for his tour to the region considering the threat perception from Naxals. We did not take the risk knowing the track record of attacks on the political leaders by Maoists in the election year”, a spokesman of the party said.

This was the second visit of the BJP leader to the region in the last two months. He had earlier visited Bastar on April 26 this year.

Ten jawans of the district reserve group (DRG) were killed when their vehicle was blown up by Maoists in Aranpur in the Dantewada district in Bastar on the day.

In February this year, two BJP leaders, Neelakantha Kakkem and Sagar Sahu, were brutally killed by Maoists in Bijapur and Narayanpur districts, respectively, in Bastar in a span of five days. Another BJP leader, Ram Ghar, was killed by Maoists in Bijapur district on February 11 this year.

On March 28 this year, local BJP leader Ramji Doddi was killed by Maoists in Narayanpur in Bastar.

“Attack on political leaders increases when elections draw close”, a senior BJP leader of Bijapur district told this newspaper, unwilling to be identified.

Similar incidents of attacks on political leaders by Naxals in Bastar were reported in the past.

Maoists had ambushed a Congress convoy in Jhiram Ghati in Bastar district on May 25, 2013, killing 28 leaders of the grand old party.

The deadly Maoist attack came barely six months before the state went to Assembly polls in November 2013.

◗ THE FEAR of attack by the Leftwing extremists in Bastar, particularly in an election year, is not unfounded considering the killing of four BJP leaders in the region in the last five months