Chhattisgarh turns 25: ‘Satyagrah’s’ child looks at a golden future

The demand for Chhattisgarh wasn't born overnight. Its roots go back over half a century, when early voices — from social reformers, intellectuals, and local leaders — began demanding a separate identity for the region. Yet, unlike other movements that turned volatile, Chhattisgarh's call for statehood remained peaceful and emotional. The formation of the Chhattisgarh Rajya Nirman Manch in 1988 gave structure to the dream, mobilising mass support across districts and uniting people under the idea that the state's rich minerals, forests, and electricity should serve its own people first.The demand gathered momentum through the 1990s, driven by the idea that a smaller, locally governed state would bring justice and prosperity to its predominantly tribal and rural population.When Atal Behari Vajpayee took office in 1998 as PM, demands for three separate states — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand — had been pending for years. Chhattisgarh's movement, though peaceful and non-aggressive, had strong emotional and cultural roots. The Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2000, introduced by Vajpayee's NDA govt, was passed by Parliament with rare political consensus. On Nov 1, 2000, Chhattisgarh officially came into existence as India's 26th state, with Ajit Jogi taking oath as its first chief minister.A peaceful aspiration, not an uprisingAccording to Sushil Trivedi, retired IAS officer and Chhattisgarh's first election commissioner, who also conducted the state's first delimitation exercise, the most striking feature of the Chhattisgarh movement was its peaceful character, akin to Satyagraha."The most important aspect of Chhattisgarh's creation was that while there was a strong desire among people for a separate identity, it never turned violent. Unlike Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, where agitations were aggressive, the movement here always remained peaceful," Trivedi said. "When Vajpayee promised to create Chhattisgarh, even though the Congress had a majority in MP Assembly and was set to form the govt in the new state, they cooperated fully. This political coordination and fulfilment of promise remain as a fine example of democratic maturity," he said.When Chhattisgarh took off in 2000, it inherited the burden of Maoist violence in Bastar. Being the remotest part from the state capital of undivided Madhya Pradesh, diluted governance and rampant corruption created a fertile ground for Naxals to walk in and rule. Chhattisgarh gradually prepared to counter Maoism with pro-active support from one Union govt after another. Presence of security forces increased to tens of thousands and state govt suffered Maoist violence as the biggest perception hurdle all over the world. Present BJP govt in its first 22 months has created a national record in neutralizing Maoists. Within less than two years, it looks like Chhattisgarh would get a closure on Maoist front. This is the biggest achievement of its kind on internal security front in the country. Union home minister Amit Shah had declared it within months of BJP forming govt in Chhattisgarh that Maoist violence will be finished by March 2026. Now, instead of security personnel getting killed in hundreds every year, it's Maoists who are neutralised. And, "political victory" has outsmarted everything else, with senior Maoist commanders have surrendered with their followers or fled. In its initial years, the newly born state faced the enormous task of institution-building. Administrative structures, district offices, and state departments had to be established from the ground up. Amid limited resources, the govt focused on defining a governance model tailored to the needs of its tribal, forest, and agrarian communities.