Assembly Elections 2018: Bastar readies for polls amid threats

Inside the forests of Chitrakot assembly segment in Chhatisgarh, about 60 kms from Bastar district headquarter, the prevailing mood is somber as people await to cast their votes on Monday. While Naxal threat looms large in the villages, security forces claim that the villages of Bindah, Barmat and Binta — erstwhile extremist strongholds — have been liberated. These areas are almost inaccessible to outsiders, the only way to reach is crossing over 15 kms by a motorbike. Many of these areas are voting for the first time in 20 years.

Sataspur —a village in the area — houses a polling station in a government school on the banks of Indravati river. Security forces are keeping constant vigil on the booth as it is just across the river from Naxal-affected villages of Amlidhar, Korenar, Harracoder and Malwahi. Fear looms large over the faces of villagers, who feel sandwiched between the security forces and Naxals. Recalling how armed extremists used to roam free in the area only a few years ago, they say Naxals would not allow them to vote.

Madhudhar Kashyap, a villager, told ZEE team that while they have been freed from Naxals, there is hardly any government machinery to attend to their woes. "We have several problems here. But the top concern is that we do not get good remunerative prices for the forest produce," he says. Jagaturam Nag, the son of the former Sarpanch of the village, says while there is fear of extremists, police also disturbs them in the name of search operations. He, however, added that the situation has improved since the killing of Naxal commander Vilas. When asked about the poll process, he rues that the Election Commission has not done anything here to make voters aware about it. He adds that even party candidates from both the BJP and Congress came to the area only once and that too under heavy police bandobast to seek votes.

Across the river, wading through jungles, one can see poll parties accompanied by heavy deployment of security forces moving in the interiors. These parties include public sector undertaking (PSU) employees, teachers, anganwadi and panchayat workers who are braving the treacherous terrain of the infamous Bastar region.

A 25-year-old anganwadi worker, the mother of two children, from Sukma district, says she wanted to be a part of poll staff in memory of her father and brother — both of whom were part of the Salwa Judum and were killed by Maoists. Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March" or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) was a militia mobilised and deployed as part of anti-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, aimed at countering Naxal violence in the region. The militia, comprising local tribal youth, received support and training from the Chhattisgarh government. It was banned by a Supreme Court order in 2011.

The poll parties going to the hypersensitive booths on the 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda were mostly airlifted and had reached their respective destinations a day or two before the polling day, Sukma Collector Jai Prakash Maurya said. Besides the local police, about one lakh security personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have been deployed for the first phase of polling.