On entering the Naxalite-affected areas of Chandauli, Sonebhadra and Mirzapur your fear will be forgotten for a while. Some of the best village roads in Uttar Pradesh, including the road to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s home Safai, run through these areas. Smooth roads cutting through forests, alongside the Vindhyas and the Gaderia river, are some of the most picturesque views in the Purvanchal area.

But the districts fall in the so-called ‘Red Corridor’, and the hills, the forests and the clusters of huts in a distance could be Naxalite hideouts.

Two weeks ago, a Maoist commander Sanjay Kol—carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh for his arrest—was killed in an encounter. On Sunday, his wife was picked up by the police. And the fight, what the Maoists describe as state oppression and the government calls terrorism, has led poor tribals to believe that the way out of the situation would be through political empowerment and development.

One such person is Dashrath Kol, Sanjay Kol’s father, who is now contesting from the Robertsganj (Reserved) seat on a Rashtriya Samanta Dal ticket. The older Kol is said to have suffered at the hands of authorities because of his son. But according to some in the Madhupur kasba of Sonebhadra, where the family stays, Sanjay was killed while trying to muster support for his father. Maoist sympathisers do not agree and have called for an election boycott in Chandauli, Sonebhadra and Mirzapur.

“The Maoists are not a threat to common people. Their fight is only with the police,” said Ram Dular, a local. He could be right, for the area is remarkably incident free. The only signs of threat are the police armoured vehicles.

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