Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday ruled out any dialogue with Maoist insurgents and reaffirmed the government's "surrender or elimination" policy.
"Some people have called for talks (with the Maoists)," Shah said at the Bastar Dussehra Lokotsav in Jagdalpur, the Bastar district headquarters in Chhattisgarh.
"Let me make it clear again that both Chhattisgarh and central governments are committed to (bringing) development across Bastar and all Naxal-affected areas. What is there to talk about?"
He added: "A lucrative surrender-and-rehabilitation policy has been put in place. Come forward and lay down your weapons."
Shah had earlier set a March 31, 2026, deadline to eliminate Maoism from the country.
His latest remarks came amid a call from Telangana-based civil society bodies to the government to initiate talks with the rebels.
"We have implemented the best surrender policy. Once a village becomes Naxal-free, the Chhattisgarh government will immediately release ₹1 crore for its development," Shah said.
“As many as 500 Maoists have surrendered in the past month alone. If they do not surrender, our security forces are prepared to wipe out Naxalism from the country by March 31, 2026 — the date has been fixed,” Shah said.
Maoists who surrender are being given an immediate assistance of ₹50,000 each and are being rehabilitated.
Sources in the security establishment said a blueprint was being drawn up for a “unified and combined” blitzkrieg against the rebels. Coordinated offensives are being planned in states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
“Considering their hideouts in several pockets of Chhattisgarh, the security forces have been setting up more forward bases to try and trap the Maoists inside the forests so that they can’t escape to neighbouring Odisha, Jharkhand or Maharashtra,” a home ministry official said.
Union home secretary Govind Mohan and Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Deka had last month visited Chhattisgarh and met the officials overseeing counter-Maoist offensives inside the Abhujmad forest, once dubbed a “liberated zone”.
The CRPF leadership is said to have given a PowerPoint presentation to Shah on the Maoist zones in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra and updated him on the operational details.
After a massive operation against the rebels in Chhattisgarh in September-October last year, the security forces have made repeated inroads into rebel strongholds since January, killing over 300 Maoists, including key leaders.
Sources said drones were being used to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance and capture real-time images of Maoist hideoutsin Chhattisgarh.
Shah on Saturday asserted that rather than being a fight for development, the Maoist insurgency was blockingdevelopment.
“Some people in Delhi spread misinformation for years saying Naxalism’s birth was related to the fight for development,” he said.
“But I have come to tell my tribal brothers that the whole of Bastar has been deprived of development. The root cause of this is Naxalism.”
Shah added: “Today, electricity, drinking water, roads, toilets in every house, health insurance of up to ₹5 lakh, 5kg free rice, etc, have reached every village in India but Bastar has been deprived of such development....
“I want to assure you that after March 31, 2026, Naxalites will not be able to stop your development. They will not be able to stop your rights.”
A fact-finding team from a civil rights group had last year accused the security forces of repressing Adivasi communities in Bastar on the pretext of fighting the Maoists.
It said the forces had set up a large number of camps on illegally grabbed tribal land, and were involved in human rights violations.