BERHAMPUR, SEPT 27: The first phase of polling in the State might have passed peacefully, but the administration cannot afford to take any chances as far as the Naxalite threat is concerned. The growing influence of the Naxals along the State's borders and the rapidity with which they are expanding their organisation in Orissa is alarming.Orissa is the new haven for Naxalites. Hounded out by the Andhra Pradesh Government, Naxals are looking to the State for fresh bases where they have built up a formidable organisation.The People's War Group's (PWG) east regional committee, with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam, looks into the affairs of Malkangiri district in Orissa. Its eastern division in Srikakulam district deals with the affairs of Gajapati and Rayagada districts in Orissa and Vizianagaram and Srikakulam in Andhra.The Jhanjavati and Nagavali dalams or branches of the PWG, operate in Malkangiri, while the Uddanam dalam is active in Gajapati district.At present, there are around14 dalams in the State.The inaccessible hilly terrain and dense forests of Orissa provide the perfect cover for the Naxalites, who use their own maps to move around. Groups of about 12 members, including at least three to four women, move from village to village garnering support from villagers through frontal organisations like the Jana Natya Mandali.The groups convene meetings and target disgruntled villagers left out of the development process. Their ability to redress villagers' grievances promptly and solve disputes earns them local support.The dalams reportedly recruit locals and send them to training centres in Andhra Pradesh. However, they concentrate on developing their frontal organisations which look into propaganda work - pasting posters and distributing leaflets.The influence and popularity of the PWG can be gauged from the monument constructed at Solomail chowk near Upalada village, besides other memorials to Naxalites killed in police encounters.
