Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in India
Origin and Current Status
Left Wing Extremism, rooted in the 1967 Naxalbari uprising in West Bengal, has been India's longest-running internal security challenge. The CPI(Maoist), formed in 2004 by the merger of the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India, is the primary LWE organisation.
- LWE-affected districts have reduced from 126 (2013) to 38 (2024), with the most affected districts declining from 6 to 3 (Bijapur, Sukma, and Narayanpur, all in Chhattisgarh).
- Violent incidents involving LWE dropped by 81%, from a peak of 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024.
- Civilian and security force deaths have fallen by 85% over the same period.
- Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been delisted from the category of LWE-affected states.
- The Maoist insurgency thrives in forested, underdeveloped tribal belts known as the "Red Corridor," which originally spanned from Nepal border to Tamil Nadu but has now contracted significantly.
● Tracked since February 18, 2026 · last seen May 18, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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