Modi tells Bastar troops: first Diwali with every district Naxal-free, no CRPF death on duty in a year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent Diwali with security personnel at the CoBRA Operations Base in Karanpur, Bastar, calling 2026 the first Diwali since the country won its decades-old battle against Maoist terror and every district became free of Naxalism.

The base served as the training base and launch pad for counter-Naxal operations in Bastar and Abujhmad. Modi addressed the jawans on Sunday, 8 November, and said he had come to convey the gratitude of 140 crore citizens for their "sacrifice, dedication, and spirit of service". He named personnel of the CRPF, CoBRA, BSF, ITBP, SSB, IRB, state police forces, Bastar Fighters commandos and women fighters.

What the Prime Minister said about security

Modi recalled that Left-Wing Extremism once gripped over 230 districts across nearly 20 states, with up to 2,000 attacks a year and more than 1,000 personnel killed in Chhattisgarh alone. He said that for the first time in 47 years, not a single CRPF soldier lost their life on duty over the past year.

He said the government took tough national security decisions, "including several unpublicized" ones, that struck at Naxal and separatist funding and the fake currency nexus. According to the Prime Minister, this choked the supply of weapons and curbed the movement and recruitment of Naxals. He added that the government gave security forces full operational freedom.

Development and poverty

Modi said a special development drive in Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas had built over 15,000 kilometres of roads, over 9,500 mobile towers, nearly 175 Eklavya schools, around 50 ITIs and 50 Skill Development Centres, along with thousands of post offices, bank branches and ATMs.

He also cited a World Bank report released just before Diwali, saying 50 crore Indians have escaped extreme poverty in 12 years. He listed schemes including Jan Dhan, PM Awas, Mudra loans, Ayushman Bharat, free rations and Har Ghar Jal. These claims are the Prime Minister's statements as reported by the Press Information Bureau; BDT has not independently checked the figures.

Pointing to the Bastar Olympics now under way, he said, "children are trying their hand at sports, not guns."

What happens next

Modi told the forces that today's milestones are "a launchpad rather than a stopping point", and urged them to work towards a Drug-Free, Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat. The release announces no new scheme or decision.

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Source: official release by the Prime Minister's Office, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (08 NOV 2026 4:04PM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi celebrates Diwali with the security forces at CoBRA Operations Base at Karanpur in Bastar, Chhattisgarh; also English rendering of PM's speech during interaction with the Security Forces in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.