Basava Raju, one of the most senior leaders of the banned CPI (Maoist), was killed in an encounter in the Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. Known by his real name Nambala Keshava Rao, the 70-year-old hailed from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and rose to prominence in the 1980s through his involvement with the Radical Students Union at REC Warangal. Officials say he went underground in 1985 and was instrumental in carrying out major Maoist operations across India. His leadership spanned decades, rising through the ranks of the People’s War Group before it merged with the Maoist Communist Centre to form CPI (Maoist) in 2004.

Raju’s strategic importance lay in his ability to connect the Maoist movement’s northern and southern commands. He succeeded Ganapathi (Muppala Lakshman Rao) as the General Secretary of CPI (Maoist) and was often called the party’s combat and ideological head. Intelligence officials describe him as the glue that held the fragmented organization together, often travelling covertly between regions like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh to direct party operations. His death, sources believe, may lead to the collapse or major fragmentation of the movement, given the lack of equally charismatic and effective leadership within the party’s current cadre.

Security agencies across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have labeled his encounter a major success in their long battle against Naxalism. With no significant fresh recruitment in recent years from Telugu states and the loss of prominent leaders like Kishanji earlier, the Maoist movement’s base in South India continues to weaken. Officials are now appealing to remaining politburo members to surrender, suggesting that the ideological and organizational vacuum created by Raju’s death is irreversible.