Central armed forces may start leaving Bastar by Mar 2027: Chhattisgarh home minister

Raipur: Most Central paramilitary forces deployed in Chhattisgarh's Bastar could begin withdrawing by Mar 31, 2027, a year after the state's publicly declared target of ending armed Naxalism by Mar 31, 2026, state home minister Vijay Sharma, who is also the deputy chief minister, said here on Tuesday. "We are at present focused on the Mar 31, 2026 deadline. Union home minister Amit Shah has also said that by Mar 31, 2027, Central armed forces would start returning from Chhattisgarh. By then, we have to put a complete security arrangement in place," Sharma told TOI. In a clear statement on the security roadmap, Sharma said the insurgency in Bastar had been substantially weakened, with most Maoist area committees now inactive. "There were 30 Maoist area committees. Of them, 26 are now dormant. The remaining four are in south and west Bastar, and they too will be eliminated," he said. The Chhattisgarh home minister said security agencies were still tracking senior Maoist leader Papa Rao but added that the larger objective was to ensure that the area is free of armed insurgent control regardless of whether individual leaders are captured immediately. Sharma suggested the govt's focus had shifted from symbolic targets to lasting territorial control. He also claimed that the number of Maoists still left in the forests was now small and their exact operational status unclear. "Around 50 to 60 Maoists might still be in the forests. We are not even sure how many remain armed. Many have thrown away uniforms, buried weapons and are living in villages like civilians," he said.Earlier in the assembly, Sharma faced sharp intervention from leader of opposition Charandas Mahant, who asked the govt to explain reports that the Centre had sought Rs 21,530 crore from Chhattisgarh towards expenditure on deployment of Central paramilitary forces in the state. Mahant asked under which budget head the state proposed to pay it and demanded a detailed break-up of the expenditure, saying such a large liability should be explained to the House. Sharma responded saying that the matter was at the stage of final settlement. He said the final call on payment would be taken by the chief minister and the finance minister, and maintained that it would not place any major burden on the state's finances.