Ex-top Maoist Says Successor to Slain CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Basavaraju Not Yet Chosen by CC
Rupesh, who was a Maoist CC member and chief of military intelligence wing of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), on Friday surrendered along with 209 other Naxal cadres including many senior leaders in Bastar in Chhattisgarh.
Raipur: Ex-top Naxal Takkallapalli Vasudev Rao alias Rupesh, linked to the attack on Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on December two, 2000, on Friday debunked the reports of Thippiri Tirupati alias Devuji being made the successor of the slain CPI (Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju in the post, saying that the Central Committee (CC) of the banned outfit has not ratified such an appointment.
Rupesh, who was a Maoist CC member and chief of military intelligence wing of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), on Friday surrendered along with 209 other Naxal cadres including many senior leaders in Bastar in Chhattisgarh.
He told a Hindi news portal that the CC has not met for a long time due to the intensified counterinsurgency operations launched of late in Leftwing extremism-hit regions.
“It is mandatory that the appointment of a new CPI (Maoist) general secretary has to be ratified at a regular Central Committee meeting (of the banned outfit). The CC has not met for a long time due to the launch of ‘Operation Kagar’ by security forces. In this backdrop, how can the successor of Basavaraju be made by the party”, he asked.
The former Naxal leader was known to be a close confidante of Venugopal, the former Polit Bureau member of the banned outfit.
Venugopal who has several Maoist names such as Bhupathi, Sonu and Abhay surrendered along with 60 Naxal cadres in Maharashtra three days ago.
Rupesh has disclosed that several top Maoists including Basavaraju, killed in an encounter with security forces in the forest of Abujhmad in Narayanpur district under south Bastar in May this year, had backed Venugopal for strongly advocating for giving up the armed struggle and join the mainstream to take up the cause of the people ‘in the changed situation’.
“The process to seek consensus among the top Maoists on the proposal to renounce armed struggle started in May-June this year. I have met several senior cadres separately to discuss the matter and evolve a consensus. But a meeting of CC leaders could not be held due to the intensification of anti-Naxal operations”, he said.
He claimed that a majority of the state and divisional committee leaders had supported the idea of the outfit shunning the policy of continuing armed struggle but the Telangana State Committee opposed it tooth and nail, leading to differences between the Telangana leadership and Venugopal.
This caused a vertical split in the Maoist leadership, leading Venugopal to surrender, he indicated.
Rupesh also indicated that Union home minister Amit Shah’s decision to set the deadline of March 31, 2026 to end Naxalism put psychological pressure on the top Maoists leading to confusion in them regarding the road ahead for the Maoist movement.
This coupled with the lack of communication among the top Maoists has pushed the banned outfit into disarray, he indicated.