Maoist posters found in Purulia ahead of West Bengal Assembly Elections

Several handwritten posters bearing the name of Communist Party of India (Maoist) have surfaced in West Bengal’s Purulia district, putting the administration on alert. The posters were found on Monday morning in Ajodhya hills, Kotshila and Balrampur.

In its handwritten leaflets written in red ink on white paper, the CPI (Maoist) listed a series of demands.

Hitting at both the Centre and State government, the CPI-Maoist poster demanded the government to reduce the petrol and diesel prices. Messages on the rollback of the three controversial farm bills were also demanded.

Demanding adequate ration and putting a halt to the caste-related violence as well as police atrocities were cited in the posters.

Biswajit Mahato, Purulia district SP said, “we have seized the posters and are investigating the matter in every way.”

All 9 assembly seats in Purulia are dominated by BJP and the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal will determine how much of a strong force BJP remains in this region. Except for Ghatal, BJP dominated majority of the Junglemahal belt in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Purulia, Bankura, West Midnapore, and parts of Birbhum were known as the red corridor in West Bengal. The red corridor now comprises 90 districts in 11 states across the country as opposed to 126 districts earlier. 44 such districts were removed from the list of the Maoist infested districts in 2018 including West Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura, and Birbhum with the only Jhargram termed as a threat from Maoists.

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