In a decisive blow to the CPI (Maoist), its general secretary Nambala Kesava Rao was killed in an alleged police encounter on May 21, marking a symbolic end to one of the longest-standing guerrilla movements in India. This major development comes at a time when the party should have been observing the anniversary of the historic Naxalbari uprising, considered the ideological foundation of the Naxalite movement. The CPI (Maoist) has lost over 70 members this month alone in operations carried out by security forces, including in Palamu and Narayanpur districts. Operation Kagar, a high-level anti-Maoist campaign utilizing advanced noiseless drone surveillance and ground intelligence, has led to an unprecedented toll on the organization, reportedly accounting for the deaths of over 500 cadres. Documents seized by police revealed that the party had 21 Central Committee and 13 Politburo members as of September last year, but leadership is now rapidly eroding with major committees like the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and the Andhra-Odisha Border committee rendered ineffective.
Kesava Rao, known by several aliases including Basavaraju and Ganganna, had been a driving force in the Maoist insurgency for over four decades. His radicalization began during his M. Tech studies in Warangal during the Emergency, after which he joined the Radical Students Union and went underground. He was later arrested and jailed but never returned to mainstream life, dedicating himself to the CPI (ML), People’s War (PW), and eventually the CPI (Maoist) after its merger with the Maoist Communist Centre in 2004. Rao was known for his strategic acumen, having allegedly trained with LTTE guerrillas and masterminded major attacks such as the Nayagadh arms raid in Odisha and the 2010 Dantewada massacre that killed 76 CRPF personnel. He succeeded Muppala Laxman Rao (Ganapathi) as the general secretary in 2018, though he had long been the primary architect of the group’s military operations and the formation of the so-called “Red Corridor” spanning 16 states.
While government operations such as Operation Greenhunt under the UPA caused significant disruption to Maoist ranks, Operation Kagar under the current administration has proven far more lethal and efficient. Using modern technologies, the Centre has narrowed down active Maoist districts from nearly 100 to just six. Despite intermittent offers of peace talks from CPI (Maoist), the government has opted for continued crackdown, targeting even high-ranking leaders. The Maoist narrative claims that Kesava Rao was unarmed and killed in a staged encounter while attempting to defend his team during heavy shelling. Nevertheless, his death underscores a dramatic turning point in the Naxal conflict, with a combination of high-tech surveillance, military coordination, and intelligence resulting in an erosion of Maoist influence not seen since the movement began in Naxalbari in 1967.
