IANS Year Ender 2025: Inside India’s final battle against Naxalism
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the menace of Naxalites will end by March 2026. Looking at how events unfolded in 2025, it is clear that the security forces are on course to end the menace before the deadline set by the Home Minister.
All through the year, security forces carried out scores of operations that led to the deaths and also the surrender of Naxalites in very large numbers. What is interesting is that there were more surrenders than deaths, which suggests that most of the Naxalites have started believing what they had been following was a wasted ideology.
The year 2025 witnessed the surrender of 258 Naxalites in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. In the second week of October, a record 170 Naxalites surrendered in Chhattisgarh alone. This was followed by 27 and 61 surrenders in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, respectively, taking the total number to 258.
Since the BJP came to power in Chhattisgarh in 2024, a total of 2,100 Naxalites have surrendered, while 1,785 were arrested and 477 killed. The year 2025 also marked a significant achievement when Abujhmad and North Bastar in Chhattisgarh were declared naxal free.
In 2013, 126 districts in Chhattisgarh had reported to Naxalite related violence, and this year the figure has come down to three. The only three districts which still have a Naxalite presence are Sukma, Bijapur and Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh.
Currently, there are just 11 districts across the country which are naxal-affected. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that until October 2025, 312 Naxalites had been eliminated. This includes a CPI (Maoist) General Secretary and 8 other Polit Bureau/Central Committee Members. A total of 836 arrests were carried out, while 1,639 surrendered. All those who surrendered have joined the mainstream, the ministry also said.
This year also witnessed the surrender of many Naxalites who were carrying bounties between Rs 1 crore and 25 lakh. This sent a message to the smaller cadres, and they too followed suit as the top leadership began giving up arms. Officials say that this is a result of thorough coordination between the central and state agencies. The free hand given to them by the Narendra Modi government is also a major factor behind this success.
All operations are being carried out by the DRG, STF, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and COBRA units. The fact that these agencies carry out operations together only points to the fact that the chain of command is clear. To achieve this success, the National Action Plan and Policy were introduced. This involved precise Intelligence based and people-friendly schemes. Bringing the people on board was a major issue at first.
However, the large-scale developments in the Naxal belts are what changed the game. The people realised that backing the Naxalites was a lost cause, and it was better with the government, which gave them roads, communication and better infrastructure.
Home Minister Amit Shah said at an event in Delhi that between 2014 and 2024, 12,000 km of roads have been constructed in Naxal-affected belts. Budgets for 17,500 km of roads had been approved, while 5,000 mobile towers were installed at a cost of Rs 6,300 crore.
Further, 1,060 bank branches were set up, while 937 ATMs were installed. In the Naxalite-affected belts, 5,899 post offices were opened, while 850 schools had been established. Further, 186 fully equipped health centres, too, had been set up in these belts.
During these operations, the security forces recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition. A large Naxal camp at the Karregutaa Hills on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border was destroyed. This place had stocked a huge cache of arms and rations enough for two years.
Also, this place had manufacturing units for arms and IEDs. During this raid called Operation Black Forest, 27 hardcore Naxalites were eliminated. While the security forces have dealt with the Naxalites in the jungles, Intelligence agencies warn that the ideology could spread into the cities.
Attempts are being made to spread the Naxal ideology to the cities. This could be another form of Naxalism, whereby people sympathetic to the cause could foment trouble by taking part in protests and ensuring that they turn violent. The agencies have warned against such attempts after the Naxal movement comes to a close in 2026.