India: Boycott Campaign starts in Chhattisgarh and Telangana
In the next months of the year 2023, parliamentary elections will be held in several states of the old Indian State. Specifically, in Chhattisgarh there will be elections in two phases, on 7th of November and 17th. In Telangana, there will be elections on the 30th of November. In the face of these elections, the Communist Party of India (Maoist), (CPI (Maoist), which leads the people’s war in India, has announced its denunciation of the bourgeois elections, and they will carry out a boycott campaign against the elections in both States.
In both cases the CPI (Maoist) has published statements explaining its position regarding these elections. In the case of the elections in Chhattisgarh, according to local sources, the Maoist spokesperson, Samta, has accused the BJP and the Indian National Congress of “fomenting communal and religious hatred”, exploiting the tribals of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Odisha, and has accused that both Parties serve the corporations. He was also calling to boycott the elections in Chhattisgarh. In the case of Telangana, according to local sources, the Maoist leader, Azad, stated that “The successive governments have been enacting laws only to benefit the corporate forces and the capitalists but not for the welfare of common people”. In the same statement, he called to boycott the elections.
Against this the old Indian State is preparing a huge police and military deployment, with special intensity in Chhattisgarh. In this State, an operative group of 450 paramilitary companies is being prepared, which in total is 45,000 security agents. At the beginning, the State wanted to deploy 15,000 men, but the Electoral Commission warned the Indian State that it would be not enough, and therefore deploying triple the amount has been approved. Also in Chhattisgarh, the paramilitaries who are being deployed in the area are being trained intensively, a training that has affirmed that it is specific to those who will be sent to areas with guerrilla presence, this being an extra effort of the old Indian State and a sign of its concern.
As for Telangana, the deployment that has already been prepared is at least 7,500 troops, to try to protect up to 614 positions. In addition to this deployment, the troops on the border between Chhattisgarh and Telangana have been intensely trained in several paramilitary training fields. This shows how for the old Indian State, both territories are problematic in relation to the Maoist guerrilla presence.
All these great repressive deployments and efforts, strongly contrast with the statements of the Minister of Interior, Amit Shah, who said at the beginning of this year, that they will get rid off of the Maoist guerrillas in India before the general elections of 2024.
In these elections, it can be seen how the Indian State is increasing its repressive efforts in both States, where Indian Maoists have always had a great influence. Although the BJP and the bourgeois media constantly claim that “naxalism” is almost eradicated, or is it much weaker than before, etc., when the Maoist guerrillas release and statement or there is news of some kind of action from Maoists, the Indian State makes a great military and police deployment.
