People’s War in India: Election boycott campaign continues
Featured image: Two soldiers and two polling personnel injured by IEDs on the eve of the election in Chhattisgarh. Source: The Times of India
The campaign of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)] for boycotting the elections in several federal states continues. The CPI (Maoist) leads the People’s War against the old Indian State and has a particularly great influence in the federal state of Chhattisgarh, where the most intense actions of the campaign have taken place. We have previously reported on the development of the campaign.
The 6th of November, on the evening before the elections in Chhattisgarh, two IED attacks were carried out against the election process. In the Kanker District a Border Security Force constable and two polling officials were injured by an IED blast. In the Narayanpur District an officer of the Indo-Tibetian Border Police was injured while attempting to defuse an IED.
On the 7th of November a soldier of the CoBRA special forces unit was injured in an IED blast in the Sukma District. The soldier was deployed to providing security for the elections.
Later the same day, also in the Sukma district, four “security personnel”, two of which were part of the CoBRA unit, were reported to be injured in a gunfight with Maoist forces. The forces of the old Indian State were out on patrol to secure the election process.
The voter turnout in the first phase of the elections in Chhattisgarh is reported to have been only 23 percent. In the Bijapur District, and in the Konta constituency, areas where the Maoists are reported to have a strong influence, the turnout was only 4.5 percent and 4.21 percent, respectively.
In order to carry out the elections the old Indian State also has to use its Air Force. Eight MI-17 helicopters were deployed by the Indian Air Force to transport election officials and voting machines to 156 polling stations.
Reportedly a shootout ensued between the Maoists and the police along the Kodagu-Kerala border, near Waynadu in Kerala. Kodagu police are on high alert. Additional security measures have been implemented, the reactionary armed forces have put up street blockades in Kutta, Parakatageri, Birunani, and Teralu. This development comes after almost a decade being relative calm and shows that despite all the triumphalist news by the reaction the People’s War marches on.
