Amit Shah to attend event in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar

Shah will arrive in Raipur on April 4. He will reach Dantewada town in Bastar region on April 5: Deputy CM and Home Minister Vijay Sharma

Raipur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Dantewada in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, the ground zero of heightened offensives against Naxalites, on April 5 to attend a festival and interact with commanders of security forces.

Shah will arrive in Raipur on April 4. He will reach Dantewada town in Bastar region on April 5, Deputy CM and Home Minister Vijay Sharma said on Tuesday.

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“Shah will offer prayers at Maa Danteshwari Temple in Dantewada. He will attend the closing ceremony of the ‘Bastar Pandum’ festival,” he told reporters.

Shah will meet local public representatives and later chair a meeting with commanders of security forces involved in anti-Naxal operations (on April 5), Sharma said.

The Union Home Minister has frequently underlined the government’s resolve to eradicate Naxalism by March 2026. Notably, anti-Naxalite operations intensified in Chhattisgarh after the BJP came to power in 2023. Security forces have gunned down around 350 Naxalites in a string of encounters, mostly centred in the Bastar region, since last January.

In the latest strike, 18 Naxalites, including 11 women, were killed in twin encounters in Bastar region on March 29. Shah declared on Tuesday that India had achieved a milestone by reducing the number of districts most affected by Leftwing Extremism to six from 12.

The Narendra Modi government is building a “Sashakt, Surakshit and Samriddh Bharat” with a ruthless approach to Naxalism and relentless efforts for all-pervasive development, Shah said.

“Taking a giant stride towards building a Naxal-free Bharat, today our nation achieved a new milestone by significantly reducing the number of districts most affected by Leftwing Extremism to just six from 12,” Shah said in a post on X. According to Union Home Ministry data, Leftwing Extremism (LWE) or Naxal violence-affected districts are those where Naxal activities and violence continues.