Jagdalpur: Monday evening. Union home minister Amit Shah is speaking in the Lok Sabha, detailing his government’s success in ridding India of left wing extremism or Naxalism. He speaks for almost 85 minutes, explaining how the state won.. (From left) Bhaskar Mandvi, (in purple) Ranita, Ratan Elam, Rupesh and Pawan Anand Reddy. (Photo/Prawesh Lama). At an undisclosed location in Bastar district’s Jagdalpur town, five top Naxal leaders who surrendered in late 2025, are listening to Shah. For decades, they fought the state, but admit that eventually, the state prevailed.. On Tuesday, the five meet with Hindustan Times at a park on the outskirts of Jagdalpur . They speak candidly about the decline of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the steady strengthening of intelligence networks and security forces, the leadership vacuum at the top of the insurgent group, their mistakes, curiosity over their former chief Ganpati, who is still at large, and their ultimate loss of relevance.. The tipping point in the state’s fight, according to one, came in 2009. “Until 2009, the government and intelligence agencies knew very little about our party and its military structure. They had no real insight. The Maoists were at full strength,” says Pawan Anand Reddy alias Chaitu (62), a state committee member of the proscribed party.. Then, things changed.. “It was sometime after 2009-10 that the government began systematically gathering information about us — our hierarchy, governance model, and internal functioning. The first batches of surrendered cadres who joined the District Reserve Guards (DRG) revealed everything: our training methods, weaknesses, and military formations. Once that happened, the forces gained a clear understanding and prepared themselves for a long fight,” he adds.. Those years, according to Chaitu and his fellow comrade Rupesh alias Satish Kofa, also a state zonal committee member, were a phase when the CPI(Maoist) was strongest.. “Between 2007 and 2009, we were at our strongest in terms of numbers and outreach. There were around 2,500-3,000 full-time armed cadres in the Dandakaranya region alone, with support from 50,000 to 100,000 cadres across Bastar and adjoining areas. The Salwa Judum movement around 2005 caused us losses, but it also pushed thousands of villagers toward us. Support also poured in from other states where our influence had spread,” Rupesh says, referring to a state-sponsored militia that sought to combat the Maoists.. Rupesh, Chaitu, Ranita, Bhaskar alias Yadagir, and Ratan Elam alias Bajirao surrendered in October 2025 along with over 150 cadres. Their immediate senior, Central Committee (CC) member Mallujao Venugopal Rao aka Sonu Dada surrendered in Maharashtra before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.. The movement’s decline also had to do with the state’s performance,adds Rupesh. “Our rise in the 1980s and 1990s was tied to the conditions in remote villages at the time. But by the mid-2000s, g