Amit Shah claims Naxal frontal bodies were part of Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra
This story was originally published at 21:32 IST on 30 March 2026
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NEW DELHI – Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday said Naxalism has "nearly ended" in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region and the rule of law has been established in almost the entire "red corridor" that once spanned the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Bihar. He said this had become possible because of actions taken by the Narendra Modi government.
Replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha on ‘Efforts to free the country from left-wing extremism', Shah accused successive governments led by the Indian National Congress since 1970 of shielding Naxalites and empathising with the Leftist ideology. He went on to allege that the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had seen the participation of "several Naxal frontal organisations".
Gandhi led the Bharat Jodo Yatra foot march from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir between September 2022 and January 2023. He followed it up with the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal in Manipur to Mumbai in Maharashtra between January 2024 and March 2024.
"In his long political career, Rahul Gandhi has been seen multiple times with Naxals and their sympathisers," Shah said. He said Gandhi also shared the video of a protest in New Delhi against the killing of Madvi Hidma, a major Naxalite figure, in November 2025 in a police encounter in Alluri Sitharamaraju district of Andhra Pradesh.
"Having sympathised with and having lived together with Naxalites, this party (Congress) and its leaders have themselves become Naxalites," he said as Opposition members protested loudly.
The home minister highlighted the various steps taken by the Modi government to fight Naxalism and Maoist violence, and said that while in 2014 there were 126 districts affected by left-wing extremism, the number has come down to two in 2026. "Complaints of Naxalite violence were recorded across 350 police stations in 2014," he said. "Today, the incidents are limited to just seven police stations' jurisdiction. We set up 450 new central armed police forces camps in the last six years, built 68 night-landing helipads, provided 400 blast-proof vehicles to our forces, and set up five new hospitals," he said.
Shah said that between 2024 and March this year, 706 extremists were killed in police encounters, 2,218 were arrested, and 4,839 have surrendered. End
Reported by Asim Khan
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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