Amid speculations over who will replace CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Nambala Kesava Rao alias Basava Raju, who was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh, there is a lot of talk in Bastar about the return of Basava Raju’s mentor and former General Secretary Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi to the country.
Ganapathi was the General Secretary of the party for almost 15 years before stepping aside in 2018 and handing over the reins to Basava Raju. He played a key role in wresting control over Naxal movement from the supporters of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, the founder of People’s War Group (PWG). He also led the formation of the Maoist party with the merger of two key Naxal groups.
However, the security forces are dismissing the possibility. “Ganapathi, who is suffering from illness, has been in the Philippines for treatment and rest for the past few years. He returned to the country after Basavaraju died in an encounter. Ganapathi is currently an advisor to the Maoist party. Given his health, who is in his 70s, he will not be able to take over as the head of the Maoists again,” they believed.
On the other hand, there is also a possibility that a senior commander from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana may take over the responsibilities of the General Secretary of the Maoist party. However, Maoist sources make it clear that the name of Basavaraju’s successor is unlikely to be officially announced.
It is recalled that it had not been officially announced when Ramachandra Reddy took over as the Secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee after Ramanna’s death due to a heart attack. However, an official from the anti-Naxal operation expressed confidence that whoever takes over from Basava Raju will have only a short life on earth and that the security forces will eliminate him in an encounter.
Bastar IG Sundarraj felt that there is no leader in the group who can replace Basava Raju and that the remaining leaders have only two options, surrender or die in an encounter. After Basava Raju and Ganapati, the names of Sonu alias Mallojula Venugopal and Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji from Telangana are being heard for the position. It is also known that Mishir Besra alias Bhaskar from Jharkhand is also a possibility.
However, an official commented that due to the dominance of Telugu people in the Maoist party, there is no possibility of others reaching top leadership.
