Once a dreaded Maoist ‘adalat’ spot, a tree shade turns ‘jan choupal’ of CM

Raipur: Under the same tamarind tree where Maoist once convened their ‘jan adalats’, Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai sat on Tuesday listening to villagers asking for roads, electricity and ration cards in Kondapalli, a remote village in Bijapur.The scene around him — police officers, district officials, surrendered Maoists, schoolchildren and villagers clutching applications — would have been nearly unthinkable in this part of Bastar just a few years ago.CM Sai’s visit came as part of Sushasan Tihar, an ongoing campaign that took him deep into the Bijapur-Puvarti belt to inspect a newly built Bailey bridge and hold a ‘jan chaupal’. The trip was designed to showcase what the govt calls Bastar’s transformation from insurgency to infrastructure.A bridge where fear once stood held sway:At the heart of the visit was the newly-constructed Bailey bridge on the Bijapur-Puvarti route near Kondapalli, once among the toughest Maoist strongholds in southern Bastar. Standing on the steel bridge built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), CM Sai called it something more than metal and concrete. “Roads and bridges are not merely construction works. They connect remote villages with schools, hospitals, employment and development,” he said.Officials say Bailey bridges are increasingly used in Bastar’s difficult terrain because they can be assembled quickly at nearly one-fifth the cost of conventional bridges. Bijapur district now has 21 such bridges, significantly improving movement in remote pockets. From the bridge, the CM looked out over a route where travel once depended as much on security clearances as on geography.An unscheduled stop that defined the visit:As CM Sai’s convoy moved toward the chaupal venue, it suddenly stopped outside a tiny roadside grocery shop. Security personnel rushed ahead, expecting another villager interaction. Instead, the CM walked into the modest shop and picked up a bottle of water.Behind the counter stood Masa Tamo and his wife Jaymoti — both former Maoists. Until months ago, the couple lived inside the insurgency network. On Tuesday, they nervously served customers from their small kirana shop in Kondapalli while the chief minister listened to their story, a tale of switch from rifles to ration packets.Masa Tamo allegedly joined Maoist ranks in 2007 after losing his father early and growing up in poverty. Jaymoti’s journey was marked by similar hardship, including the loss of her parents during childhood. The two met inside the Maoist organisation and married in 2021.By late 2025, they surrendered.Officials say the couple entered Bijapur’s rehabilitation programme, receiving literacy training, official documents, bank access and welfare assistance. Jaymoti later secured financial help under the govt’s Saksham scheme, which enabled them to open the grocery shop.“Earlier there were weapons in our hands. Today we work and earn,” the couple told the CM.Sai bought water from the shop, encouraged them and later called their story “the real picture of a changing Bastar.”From Maoist gatherings to development demandsLater, under the shade of an imli tree, Sai held a ‘jan chaupal’ where villagers spoke openly about roads, schools, drinking water and electricity. Locals told the CM that fear once dictated daily life in the region. Now, they said, roads, anganwadis and govt camps are gradually replacing isolation.Villagers recalled that the same area once hosted Maoist gatherings where locals assembled under pressure. On Tuesday, the gathering revolved around government schemes and development demands instead.CAPTIONS:Pic 1: Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai holds ‘jan chaupal’ in Kondapalli village in BijapurPic 2: CM Vishnu Deo Sai at newly-constructed Bailey bridge built by the Border Roads Organisation on the Bijapur-Puvarti route near KondapalliPic 3: Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai buys water from a small shop run by former Maoists Masa Tamo and his wife Jaymoti, at Kondapalli village in Bijapur