Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh gets into election mode, will kickstart Vikas Yatra from Maoist hotbed Dantewada

In the run up to the Chhattisgarh Assembly election later this year, the state Chief Minister Raman Singh will launch his election campaign from the Maoist hotbed of Dantewada on 12 May. Titled Vikas Yatra, the two most important aspects of this campaign are the facts that it will be flagged off by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and secondly, that it gives the chief minister an opportunity to focus on the most important work undertaken by his government, which is bringing development to and mainstreaming of sections of Maoist strongholds in the hardcore Red Corridor area within the state. Raman Singh, in the past as well, had kickstarted his Vikas Yatra from Dantewada, with the blessings of Danteshwari Mata – the city deity. [caption id=“attachment_3962779” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh. PTI[/caption] “The objective of this yatra is to showcase the achievements of the Raman Singh government in the last four-and-half years in terms of development. It’s also a kind of Chhattisgarh government’s balance sheet of the last 15 years. During the roadshow, the CM will also lay foundation stones of upcoming projects. The government aims at completion of its targets for electrification of villages and providing LPG cylinders to BPL families,” Chhattisgarh BJP spokesperson Sachidanand Upasane told Firstpost. The inaugural session of the month-long roadshow will witness a host of senior BJP leaders including union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Narendra Singh Tomar, and chief ministers like Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra’s Devendra Fadnavis and Jharkhand’s Raghubar Das. Both the state administration and the state BJP have made a massive arrangement for the chief minister’s roadshow, public meetings and rallies, which will take place in two phases. In a bid to disseminate the message of development and progress, the organisation has assigned responsibilities to party leaders and ground workers from state level to block and village levels. The first phase, which begins on Saturday, will continue for a month till 12 June and mostly cover the tribal belt and Maoist-infested districts like Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, Bastar, Gariaband, Rajnandgaon including CM’s home district Kabirdham. The Vikas Rath will also cover major districts like Durg, Bilaspur, Korba, Korea, Surguja and Jashpur. The second phase, which will last from 16 August to 30 September, will cover the rest of the districts. Why Dantewada? The name of Dantewada, considered as the Maoist hotbed in Chhattisgarh, still sends shivers down the spine. The district had witnessed one of the deadliest incidents of massacre by the Maoists. In 2010, the Naxalite-Maoist insurgents in an ambush had killed 76 CRPF personnel near Chintalnar village in Dantewada district.      Raman Singh had in the past, ahead of Assembly elections, had initiated his Vikas Yatra from Dantewada after offering prayers at Danteshwari Mata temple. Goddess Danteshwari is considered as the chief deity by both tribal and non-tribal population living in the seven districts of Bastar. “In earlier occasions too, the CM had begun his Vikas Yatra by seeking blessings of Danteshwari Mata. It’s a tradition. Besides this, Dantewada has witnessed wiping out of Maoists in large numbers vis-à-vis development in the last 15 years. When BJP government under Dr Raman Singh came to power in 2003, there was hardly any development in this region. Dantewada used to be terror due to Maoist menace. Things have changed over the years,” said Upasane. Keeping the Maoist threat in mind, the state government has beefed up security measures not only in Dantewada but across the seven districts of Bastar division where Raman Singh shall have his rallies. One would recall, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bijapur on 14 April, the Maoists blew up a bus ferrying policemen on 9 April that killed two jawans. “We’ve made a fool-proof bandobust in Dantewada district. CM’s Vikas Yatra will provide immense opportunity to showcase developmental work in this district which was once Maoist-infested. Today, a large swath of land has been freed from Naxal menace. The Maoists have been pushed to a small area in deep interiors. More than 90 percent people are aware of their responsibilities. They are politically aware as well and we’re expecting 70 to 80 percent voting this time, unlike 54 percent in the past,” Saurabh Kumar, district collector, Dantewada, told Firstpost. “During CM’s public meeting here, success stories related to education, healthcare and livelihood that have taken place in this district, would be showcased as a development narrative,” he added. Freebies, a part of Vikas Yatra The chief minister, during his Vikas Yatra, will distribute a host of freebies to poor families in tribal areas and villages, farmers, tendu leaf pluckers, etc. According to government sources, 50 lakh families including women and students will be given smartphones as part of chief minister’s dream project Sanchar Kranti Yojna. While 50 lakh families will be given smartphones, totally worth Rs 12 crore, 12 lakh farmers will be given paddy bonus of Rs 1,700 crore. Around 12.30 lakh tendu leaf pluckers will be given a bonus of Rs 700 crore and land deed will be given to 12.50 lakh poor families. The Opposition Congress has termed this move as a ‘gimmick’ and has alleged that instead of providing employment to youth, the chief minister has been trying to appease them by distributing smartphones. Mission-65 Singh came to power in 2003 by defeating Congress government led by the then chief minister Ajit Jogi. The last election in 2013 had witnessed a tough neck-and-neck fight between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress. Out of 90 seats, the BJP had won 49, while the Congress party bagged 39. The rest two seats were won each by a BSP and an independent candidate. Keeping strong anti-incumbency factor and allegations of corruption levelled against Raman Singh government by the Opposition in mind, BJP national president Amit Shah has set a target of winning 65 seats for state BJP. “While CM’s Vikas Yatra will give a big push to election campaigning, we’re working hard on ground to achieve ‘Mission 65’ — the target of winning 65 seats given to us by our party president,” added Upasane.