Bhupesh Baghel On What Has Changed In Chhattisgarh's Fight Against Maoists

"There was a trust deficit. The biggest change is that we tried to win their (villagers') trust," Bhupesh Baghel told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Maoists have now been surrounded and people's faith in the government machinery has been restored, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said today while listing his government's achievements in fighting Left Wing Extremism.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Mr Baghel was asked about the Maoist strikes during his tenure and whether he sees Chhattisgarh as Maoist-free in the future. "Maoist attacks have happened. There is no denying that. Aranpur, where the recent attack took place, was earlier out of bounds. People could not even imagine going there. Now there is regular commute. That day, they got stuck and this incident happened and we lost nine security personnel and a civilian," he said.

"What is different between the situation earlier and the situation now is that we have now surrounded the Maoists and are fighting them. Earlier, attacks took place on camps (of security personnel). Now we are entering their strongholds, surrounding them and striking them. But in such encounters, there are losses on both sides," he said.