What the Latest Maoist Surrenders Mean for the Party

Scores of Maoists in olive green uniforms and with guns slung over their shoulders walked up to the camps of police and handed over their weapons to symbolise their surrender and retreat from the war zone in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh over three days beginning October 14.

On October 17, a total of 208 Maoists, including 110 women, were presented to Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai at an official ceremony in Jagdalpur. They brought with them 153 rifles.

Two days earlier, on October 15, 61 Maoists led by central committee member Mallojula Venugopal Rao appeared before Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Gadchiroli. Another 78 Maoists surrendered to police at Sukma and Kanker in Chhattisgarh the same day.

After the Maoists walked out of the forest in their respective war zones, the police moved them for official functions on two separate days. They walked up to the VIPs one by one in prearranged functions at Gadchiroli and Jagdalpur. Fadnavis and Vishnu Deo Sai addressed gatherings and placed in their hands copies of the Indian constitution.

All this may seem a perfect setting for a film shoot to promote the victory of police over the ultras as the culmination of six decades of conflict that claimed hundreds of lives on both sides. It was more or less meant to be that way, because the men and women of the extremist group were never known to have walked out of the forest in hordes to give themselves up and surrender their weapons. War-weary Maoists had always approached the police individually, or accompanied by one or two comrades, to surrender but never with weapons.

When 61 activists of the CPI (Maoist) led by its senior leader and central committee member Mallojula Venugopal Rao surrendered to police in Gadchiroli, and another 78 gave themselves up at Sukma and Kanker in Chhattisgarh on October 14, followed by 208 more at Jagdalpur on October 16, history was created in the party’s records. The leaders had discussions with police to secure safe passage to their destinations.

In all, 307 Maoists surrendered and about 250 guns, including assault rifles, were recovered from them over two days. In return, the chief ministers and police officials gave them cheques for the amounts fixed on their heads by the government.

Maoists who surrendered in Jagdalpur on October 17. Photo: By arrangement

The sudden decision of Maoist leaders and cadres to surrender themselves and their weapons owed much to a conflict between two sections of the party over its time-tested policy of waging armed struggle to improve the lives of the poor, even after the Union government launched the massive “Operation Kagar” to eliminate them. As many as 390 Maoists have been killed since the operation was launched on 1 January last year.

After a more than fortnight-long operation by security forces on their hideouts in the 60km-long Karreguttalu (Black Hills) terrain on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border earlier this year, which claimed the lives of 31 Maoists, Venugopal Rao addressed a letter to the party on March 28 suggesting that they lay down arms. He was supported by another central committee member from the south Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, Takkellapalli Vasudeva Rao alias Ashanna alias Rupesh. The latter issued a press release supporting disarmament and also gave an interview to a YouTuber.

Ashanna said in the interview that it would be good to find a solution to the repression faced by the party through peace talks with the government after laying down weapons. He expressed hope that talks rather than weapons would yield positive results.

In the present scenario, it was Venugopal Rao and Ashanna whose initiative to lay down arms resulted in such a large number of Maoists quitting the struggle.

The rival group favouring armed struggle comprised the former general secretary of the party and veteran Muppala Laxman Rao alias Ganapati, Telangana state committee secretary Damodar, Chandranna and Azad, as well as Telangana and Chhattisgarh leaders Hidma, Balu, Papa Rao, Tipparthi Tirupati, Malla Raji Reddy, Sangram, Viswanath, Ganesh, Vishesh Behra alias Bhaskar and Tunasda.

In the backdrop of the ideological conflict sparked by Venugopal Rao’s letter, the incumbent general secretary, Nambala Kesava Rao alias Basavaraju, was among 27 Maoists killed in an encounter in the Narayanpur district of the Abhujmad, or Maad, region in Chhattisgarh on May 21. Venugopal Rao claimed he had the full backing of Basavaraju in his advocacy of an unarmed struggle.
The twin successes at Karreguttalu and Maad were major victories for security forces, giving them the upper hand over Maoists in their stronghold. The differences within the party, combined with a stepped-up offensive by the forces and the absence of fresh recruits, left Venugopal Rao, Ashanna and lower-ranking leaders with no alternative but to surrender to save their cadres.

The surrender of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee secretary Salakula Saroja alias Lata and her husband, Irri Mohan Reddy, a committee member, along with Venugopal Rao in Gadchiroli, and now Ashanna with his comrades from other parts of Bastar – such as Raju Salaan alias Sivaprasad, Rajaman Mandavi alias Rajmohan, Solomon, Raju and Rajita – created a vacuum in the party’s leadership in Chhattisgarh.

Maoists who surrendered in Jagdalpur on October 17. Photo: By arrangement

Also, top leaders of the Andhra-Odisha border committee, Chalapati, Gajerla Ganesh and Modem Balakrishna, Indravati National Park area committee leaders Sudhakar and Mailarapu Adelu, and Jharkhand leaders Prayag Manjhi and Anju Soren were killed in encounters. This confined Maoist activity to south Bastar, where Ashanna has surrendered to police in Jagdalpur, and three other leaders from the region gave up to police in Hyderabad a few days ago. Ashanna’s wife, Srividya, was arrested earlier.

Bastar had been a shelter zone for Maoists for several decades. It was here that Kondapalli Seetaramiah, founder of the People’s War Group – which later merged with the Maoist Communist Centre in 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist) – sent 49 Naxalites to form four squads to begin operations in 1980. Bastar became the core area of the Dandakaranya zone, which extends up to the Mumbai–Kolkata railway line in the north, the Godavari river in the south, the New Delhi–Chennai railway line in the west and the Visakhapatnam coast in the east.

Dandakaranya became central to the red corridor stretching from Pashupati in Nepal to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, covering 16 states.

But now that Maoists were seen marching out of the forest in long queues to surrender, a shift is in the works.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma ( to his right) at the function at Jagdalpur on October 17. Photo: By arrangement.

The backdoor discussions had started some time ago, a senior police official told The Wire on condition of anonymity. He added that the Maoist party was unlikely to recover from the setbacks any time soon. The surrenders weakened it internally, while the use of force by police continued externally.

He estimated that only about 200 cadres may remain in the forest now. The strength might dwindle further, as the surrenders were likely to continue in a phased manner.

Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who holds the home portfolio, said at the event in Jagdalpur that it was a path for Maoists to reintegrate with society.

Led by Ashanna, about 140 Maoists initially gathered at the Uppari Ghat plains, where they crossed the Indravati river to reach Bijapur in boats. They were then moved to the Bairamgarh police camp in buses and later to Jagdalpur. They carried 70 weapons. Their exit emptied the Maad area committee, which was key to party activities in Chhattisgarh.

Reacting to the surrender, a company involved in iron ore exploration in Surajghad, Gadchiroli, offered to make Mallojula Venugopal Rao its brand ambassador and to provide employment to surrendered cadres. The company offered to absorb them after training at its centres. It has so far provided employment to 68 surrendered cadres and 14 families affected by Maoist violence.

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