On Tuesday, Maharashtra Day, a zilla parishad member and five panchayat samiti members in the Naxal-affected Bhamragarh tehsil of Gadchiroli submitted their resignations, citing threats from the Naxals. Earlier last week, several representatives of political parties too had tendered their resignations.
“Four members of Bhamragadh’s panchayat samiti, including the chairman and the deputy chairman, resigned on Tuesday morning. A woman member of the zilla parishad also resigned after receiving threats to her life from the Naxals,” said Ravidas Raut, former corporator in Gadchiroli.
According to Mr Raut, ironically, the resignations were tendered even as Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil, who is also the guardian minister of the Gadchiroli district, was briefing the media that such resignations would not be accepted by the government.
The panchayat members who resigned are Gangaram Bhandekar, Vijay Kudyani, Subrato Haldar, Khushal Madavi and Bharat Zhade. The Congress’ zilla parishad member from Nelgunda Adewada sector of the Bhamragarh area Madni Bogami also resigned from her post.
“Another member, Sharda Pawar from the Mannerajaram sector of Bhamragadh, is also expected to resign, as she too has been threatened,” Mr Raut said.
Gadchiroli collector Abhishek Krishna said, “Last week, several elected representatives of the BJP and NCP had resigned.”
According to a source, the Naxals kidnapped several members of the zilla parishad and the panchayat samiti last week and threatened to kill them if they did not resign from their posts. “A woman zilla parishad member was kidnapped and later released last week, although the matter was not reported. We think around 2,000 armed Naxals are currently camping in the region,” the source said.