CHINTOOR (ASR DISTRICT)
In 2021, a divisional committee member of the banned Communist Party of India CPI (Maoist) surrendered before the erstwhile East Godavari district police and the Andhra Pradesh police department claimed that he joined mainstream politics after developing an affinity with democracy.
“The surrendered Maoist is now the head of a youth wing of the ruling YSRCP in the Godavari Agency in Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district. He is also actively involved in the ongoing election campaign,” the ASR police claimed.
The former Maoist appears to follow the path of Danasari Seetakka, Telangana Congress Minister, who also gave up the Maoist ideology and joined the Congress party to pursue active politics.
Since 2022, as many as 125 Maoists and Maoist sympathisers associated with various Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) groups in the Red Corridor have surrendered before the ASR district police.
Of the total surrendered Maoists, 87 are natives of Andhra Pradesh, 22 belong to Odisha, and 16, including six who surrendered before Visakhapatnam police on April 22, are natives of Chhattisgarh.
Right to Franchise
“All the surrendered Maoists have already enrolled as voters in Andhra Pradesh. They are also set to exercise their franchise in the 2024 elections. They have been leading a normal life since they joined the mainstream,” said Mr. Hrishikesh, Sub-Inspector, ASR police Special Branch on the Left-Wing Extremism.
For the 87 Maoists who surrendered in 2022 in the State, the 2024 elections will be the venue to showcase their faith in democracy by exercising the right to franchise. A majority of the surrendered Maoists are tribes of the Godavari valley—Konda Reddi, Koya and Murias—who migrated from Chhattisgarh and settled in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
On the vote enrolment exercise, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA-Chintoor) Project Director Kavuri Chaitanya told The Hindu: “Every citizen residing for six months in an area is entitled to get the vote in the respective area as claimed by the citizen. Everybody, including surrendered Maoists, gets the vote if they meet the criterion of ‘Ordinary Citizen”.
The person who resides in the same place for six months is called the ‘Ordinary citizen’ and is entitled to enrol his vote in the same place. A surrendered Maoist, only after taking part in the elections by voting can get a complete taste of democracy.
