A political declaration with sharp historical teeth: Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to X on Sunday, November 8, 2026 to relay what he described as Prime Minister Modi's own account of how the current government dismantled the support system Naxalites had enjoyed under previous administrations — and handed security forces the operational freedom they had long been denied. Shah quoted Prime Minister Modi directly, writing: 'मोदी जी ने बताया कि पहले की सरकारों द्वारा नक्सलियों को जो सपोर्ट मिलता था, उसे हमने बंद किया और सुरक्षा बलों को हर जरूरी निर्णय लेने की आजादी दी।' — translated: 'Modi ji explained that the support Naxalites received from earlier governments has been stopped by us, and security forces have been given the freedom to take every necessary decision.'

From Operation Green Hunt to SAMADHAN: a doctrine shift

The remark lands inside a long policy arc. The UPA government launched Operation Green Hunt in 2009, a large-scale security offensive in the so-called Red Corridor spanning Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha. Critics at the time — and the BJP in opposition — argued the approach was inconsistent and that political considerations constrained ground commanders. When the NDA government took office in 2014, it recalibrated. By 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs had formalised the SAMADHAN doctrine — an acronym outlining a multi-pronged strategy combining security operations with development programmes in affected districts. The key departure, as the government has consistently argued, was decentralising operational decision-making to field commanders rather than funnelling every call through political channels.

Shrinking the Red Corridor — what the numbers say

The Ministry of Home Affairs has documented a steady decline in both LWE-affected districts and violence incidents since 2014. The number of districts classified as left-wing extremism-affected has fallen significantly over the past decade, with the government attributing the trend to this twin-track approach: sustained security pressure combined with infrastructure and welfare delivery in long-neglected tribal belts. Residents of these districts — historically caught between insurgent demands and state neglect — are the most direct stakeholders in whether the policy holds.

BJP's counter-Naxal narrative and the opposition framing it challenges

Shah's post is not just a policy update — it is a pointed piece of political framing. The BJP has consistently argued that Congress-era governments provided, whether by design or default, an enabling environment for Naxalite activity. The post reprises that argument by putting the critique in Prime Minister Modi's own voice, amplifying it through the Home Minister's platform. Opposition parties have contested this framing, arguing that Operation Green Hunt itself demonstrated UPA's willingness to deploy force, and that development deficits — not political sympathy — have historically fuelled recruitment in affected regions. What is not in dispute: the operational tempo against Naxalite groups has intensified markedly in recent years, with a string of major encounters reported across Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states. The next annual left-wing extremism report from the Ministry of Home Affairs will be the clearest factual test of how much ground the government's strategy has actually taken back — and how much of the Red Corridor remains lit.