Naxal threat a major worry in the run up to Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand

New Delhi: Jharkhand is a highly Naxal-infested state and providing security during elections in the rebel strongholds is a big headache for the state police and paramilitary forces. Almost 67 police stations in 15 districts have become Naxal hotbeds where the rebels target their opponents with ease, sources in the state administration have told IBNLive.

Even political leaders find it very difficult to carry out their campaign in these areas with the Naxals routinely issuing threats and giving a call to boycott the election process. They are known to ruthlessly enforce their diktats in the rural areas with many booths witnessing zero polling.

The biggest worry for the administration is to provide security to candidates and ensure that people come out in large numbers on the voting day. While security at polling booths is usually adequate, the route that voters undertake is highly vulnerable. Polling parties, too, are soft targets.

Apart from the dreaded Communist Party of India-Maoist, there are several small Naxal groups operating in the state, making life tough for security forces. Groups like People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC) and Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) have their own areas of dominance and are also involved in internecine warfare.

Even the Union Home Ministry has termed Jharkhand the "worst Left Wing Extremist-affected state". In 2013 the state witnessed 383 instances of Naxal violence resulting in 150 deaths out of whom 30 belonged to security forces while only 12 rebels were killed.

But senior Jharkhand officials also point out that incidents of Naxal violence have come down in the past five years according to the Home Ministry data. From a high of 742 incidents in 2009 in which 239 people were killed, 2010 saw the death of 172 in 501 cases, 2011 had 517 incidents with 198 deaths which came down to 170 deaths in 480 cases in 2012. However, one thing that is worrying is the heavy casualty suffered by security forces in anti-Naxal operations.

The state with 14 Lok Sabha seats has 24 districts - Bokaro, Chatra, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Dumka, Garhwa, Giridih, Godda, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Jamtara, Khunti, Koderma, Latehar, Lohardaga, Pakur, Palamu, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Sahibganj, Seraikela-Kharsawan and Simdega. The 15 districts which have heavy presence of Naxals are Bokaro, Chatra, Dhanbad, Dumka, Garhwa, Giridih, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Latehar, Lohardaga, Palamu, Pakur, West Singhbhum and Simdega.