Odisha has made preparations for setting up ‘independent’ polling booths in Swabhiman Anchal, earlier considered as bastion for left wing extremists (LWEs), where people would freely exercise their franchise in the forthcoming elections after decades.
“For the first time, people in Swabhiman Anchal will cast votes in their own localities. Earlier, polling booths used to be set up near camps of security forces and now, the booths will be set up in villages,” Arun Sarangi, Odisha’s Director General of Police, said. Mr. Sarangi had led a high level police team to take stock of prevailing situation in Swabhiman Anchal. Over 30 booths are proposed to be established in the region, Mr. Sarangi informed.
Fearing raids by LWEs and threat to life of electoral officials in Swabhiman Anchal, polling booths used to be set up near camps of security forces. The region is going to poll on May 13.
Covering an area of around 900 square kilometres in Odisha’s southern Malkangiri district, Swabhiman Anchal, previously referred to as the cut-off area, was created due to two major reservoirs built in the 1960s and 1980s on Machhkund and Balimela river respectively.
Surrounded by vast water bodies on three sides and rugged terrain on the other, this region had become virtually inaccessible, with approximately 150 villages reachable only by boats from the Chitrakonda area.
Over time, this area witnessed numerous bloody clashes, with 51 security personnel falling victim to Maoist attacks, including 37 Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds jawans, seven BSF jawans, four Odisha Police personnel, and three Gram Rakhies. Besides, more than 50 civilians lost their lives in Maoist-related violence, rendering it a forbidden zone for both civilian and police authorities, as left-wing extremists, particularly under the Andhra-Odisha Border zone of CPI (Maoist), held sway.
The abduction of then Malkangiri district collector R. Vineel Krishna by CPI (Maoist) in 2011, who was later released after a nine-day ordeal, further underscored the region’s precarious state. However, a significant shift took place with the construction of the Gurupriya Bridge over the Balimela Reservoir on July 26, 2018. Renamed Swabhiman Anchal, the area ceased to be remote. The laying of blacktop roads, amidst the presence of numerous security personnel, marked a turning point, despite opposition from armed CPI (Maoist) cadres. Part of Allu Arjun’s upcoming film Pushpa 2: The Rule was filmed in Swabhiman Anchal.
The DGP accompanied by Soumendra Priyadarshi, Director Intelligence, and Suresh Dev Datta Singh, Additional Director General of Police (Operation) met Border Security Force, Special Operation Group and district police personnel and reviewed the LWE situation.
“There is no visible presence of cadres of outlawed CPI (Maoist) in Malkangiri district. Cadres have been shifted to Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and there have been no activities of LWE in past 18 months,” Mr. Sarangi said.
The Odisha DGP, however, made cautionary note saying, “the armed cadres could try to sneak into Odisha taking advantage of the gap of three week between holding of elections in neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Odisha. While votes will be polled on April 19 in Chhattisgarh, Odisha’s southern districts bordering to central Indian State would go to poll on May 13.”
“We are ready with our operational response to prevent any invasion by CPI (Maoist) cadres. We have held discussions over entry of LWEs from Andhra Pradesh side and keeping them under continuous pressure,” he said.
