Amit Shah, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, chaired a review meeting on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) and an inter-state coordination meeting in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on 24 August 2024. Speaking on the occasion, Amit Shah said that the central government is committed to eradicating Left-Wing Extremism (Naxalislm) from the country before March 2026.

States which attended the Meeting

The meeting was attended by seven states- Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telangana.

Other Participants in the Meeting

The meeting, chaired by Amit Shah, was attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.

It was also attended by Govind Mohan, Union Home Secretary; Tapan Deka, Director Intelligence Bureau; Sadanand Date, Director National Investigation Agency(NIA); Anish Dayal Singh, Director General CRPF; Daljit Singh, who currently holds the charge as the Director General of BSF and SSB; and Rahul Rasgotra, Director General of ITBP.

The states were represented by their Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police.

About Naxals or Left-Wing Extremism

Left-wing extremism refers to those groups or persons who are inspired by the ideology of the founder of modern communist China, Mao Zedong. The leftwing extremism in India wants to replace the constitutional system in India through an armed revolution and establish a communist government like China.

The Left-wing extremists are also called the Naxals. In 1967, there was an armed revolt by the peasants in Naxalbari, West Bengal, inspired by the ideology of Mao. Since then, they are also called naxals.

Left Wing Districts in India

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the total number of Naxal-affected districts was 38 in nine states in 2024.

In 2024, the maximum affected districts were in Chhattisgarh (15 districts), Odisha (7), Jharkhand (5), Madhya Pradesh (3), Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala 2 each and Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal 1 each.