In both of these Hindi heartland states, the straight contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Sunday said Naxalism will be eradicated from the state where there was no place for left extremism and terrorism.
A cache of arms and ammunition was recovered after a prolonged gunbattle between security personnel and Maoists in naxal-affected Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday. The exchange of fire took place in Chhote Usri's Patelpara forest under Mardapal police station limits Thursday evening, Kondagaon Additional Superintendent of Police Surjit Atri told PTI.
'I asked him why were he and other writers being targeted.' 'I saw his point of view, that he and others being writers, their work was popular and well-appreciated by people, especially the youth.' 'This made the State fear them.'
Alarmed over unabated Naxal violence, the Centre and the state governments have decided to go after the top leadership of the Communist Party of India - Maoist through intelligence based operations. The decision was taken at a special session of chief ministers of Naxal affected states -- held in Delhi on Wednesday -- in the wake of the May 25 bloodbath in Chhattisgarh's Bastar that left 27 people, including top state Congress leaders, dead.
In her first address to a joint sitting of the two Houses in the new Parliament building in which she touched on varied issues ranging from insurgency to inflation, Murmu said a country can progress at a fast pace only when it defeats the challenges of the past and puts maximum energy into building the future.
The Central Reserve Police Force has lost six times more men at the hands of Naxals this year as compared to its casualties in other combat zones, including terror-hit Jammu and Kashmir or insurgency-affected North East. While the counter-Naxal task has claimed the lives of 46 CRPF personnel across 20 states till September this year, seven troops lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir while one was killed in the North East.
Lakra, who will soon join a private airline as a co-pilot, has achieved this feat after years of hard work.
The explosives used in the recent audacious strike on top Congress leaders of Chhattisgarh were wired to a command control centre set up by Naxals, forensic evidence found at the site has indicated. This means the explosion that targeted the Congress convoy was precisely timed and manually controlled.
A Congress leader, who was with former Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla during the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, has claimed that the ambush specifically targeted state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and senior leader Mahendra Karma, both of whom died in the strike.
Statistics show the failure of the Bihar government in acting against Naxals in the state who are able to set up bases without much difficulty. Vicky Nanjappa reports
"The incident took place when a joint contingent of BSF and district force was on a combing operation in the jungles of Tadoki Police Station area of the district early Saturday morning," Kanker Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), CD Tondon told PTI over phone.
The Maoist insurgency is a blatantly illegal and no-holds-barred war against the Indian State, against the idea and existence of Indian democracy, and that includes the poor tribals and farmers for whose cause the Maoists claim to fight. It is not only ignorant but also extremely dangerous to romanticise the Naxal cause, says Harsh V Pant
Asserting that the country will never bow down before Naxalism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said government will pursue the perpetrators of the crime with urgency and is committed to bringing them to justice.
A day after killing seven policemen in an ambush in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the Naxals on Sunday allegedly set ablaze at least 17 vehicles engaged in mining work in insurgency-hit Kanker district, police said.
The problems of Naxals targetting schools and recruiting children, especially in some districts of Chhattisgarh, have been highlighted in the annual report of the United Nations on children in armed conflict.
Appealing people not to celebrate Independence Day, Naxals torched six trucks in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.
Alleged Naxals shot a worker of the Communist Party of India and triggered a landmine blast, in which two Central Reserve Police Force jawans were injured, in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. All three of them have been admitted to the hospital. District police authorities told PTI that Naxals attacked Chhotebedma village in Kuakonda station jurisdiction in the district on Tuesday night and shot Mudararam Sodhi, 65, a worker of the CPI.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her party leaders and the Centre of being directly responsible for the rise in Maoist menace in Bihar with their 'pro-Naxal statements'. "Naxals have become audacious in Bihar. The Centre, Sonia Gandhi and her party leaders are directly responsible for it. By their pro-Naxal statements, they have boosted the morale of Maoists," BJP spokesperson Tarun Vijay charged at a press conference.
The skirmish took place in the wee hours in the restive Dabba-Kunna hills when the joint team of the CRPF and STF was out on an anti-Maoist operation.
A CRPF officer was on Saturday killed in an encounter with suspected Naxalites in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh.
The state witnessed 87 Naxal-related incidents between July and December, as against 63 during the corresponding period in 2006, according to official figures made available by the state police headquarters in Patna.
An assortment of sophisticated weaponry belonging to security personnel, including 10 AK-series rifles, were carried off by the Naxals from the site of the encounter on Monday in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh which left 14 Central Reserve Police Force jawans dead and over a dozen others injured.
A state-of-the-art control room with giant TV screens that will help track the offensive of security forces in Naxal strongholds with satellite imaging and Global Positioning System has been activated at the Central Reserve Police Force headquarters in New Delhi.
Naxals went on a rampage at several places in Chhattisgarh on the first day of the two-day bandh called by them.The left-wing ultras killed two persons, including an abducted special police officer, set on fire some vehicles and damaged railway tracks. Senior police officials told PTI that in Naxal-infested Dantewada district, a person named Kawasi Dev was shot dead by the Maoists and an abducted SPO Ramaiyya was killed in Bijapur.
A rare video footage of Maoists purportedly showing the rebels conducting a 'commando-style' training to gun down helicopters, used to ferry security personnel and VIPs in Chhattisgarh's worst insurgency-hit Bastar region, has been recovered by the police.
The Chhattisgarh Police is planning to train a new batch of street dogs for anti-Naxal operations after the canines delivered good results by detecting over 350 Improvised Explosive Devices and landmines in the past two years.
'The government strongly condemns this unprovoked and heinous attack by the CPI (Maoist) on a public sector security force that was on a routine patrol in an area falling under the jurisdiction of a public sector corporation,' the Home Ministry said in a statement.
A Central Industrial Security Force trooper was killed on Sunday while another was injured in an attack by naxals on a security post in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said lack of development in Chhattisgarh has forced some people to adopt the wrong path of Naxalism.
'Those giving voice to the voiceless should be welcomed, not punished.' 'Yes, I paid a price -- 10 years in jail -- but it wasn't only me who did so. There are many paying the price.'
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Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday vowed to take "revenge" for Tuesday's Naxal ambush in which 15 security personnel and a civilian were killed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, saying the attack could be an attempt to disrupt the Lok Sabha polls.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday disfavoured use of air force in dealing with Naxalism, a day after Home Minister P Chidambaram said he was trying to 'convince"' the Cabinet on providing air support to anti-Naxal operations.
In an ominous development, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has roped in separatist leaders and their sympathisers to make inroads in Naxal ranks in its anti-India strategies after making a failed attempt to enlist the support of the Maoist rebels.
In the wake of the attack by Naxal in Chhattisgarh, killing 28 people, including political leaders and security forces, R R Patil, home minister of Maharashtra, talks to Sanjay Jog on what is to be done.
In a brazen daytime attack, Naxals on Tuesday ambushed a security team killing 15 personnel including 11 of the Central Reserve Police Force and also a civilian in a chilling reminder of the 2010 massacre of 76 securitymen in the same area in the worst-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
Bad weather and hostile terrain have hampered the evacuation operation in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district where armed rebels had on Saturday ambushed a team of Special Task Force killing seven personnel.
Contests in 13 seats would attract most attention during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as they feature prominent leaders of the Congress and BJP.
The Congress leader, who resigned as the chief minister Sunday night, emerged victorious in the Patan assembly seat, defeating BJP candidate Vijay Baghel by 19,723 votes in the state assembly elections held last month.
Rediff.com takes a look at the most deadly Naxal attacks on security forces over the last five years.
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