Hyderabad: A joint statement was released by two members of the central committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on Monday, September 22, condemning the reported idea of the party giving up armed struggle, as voiced by Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Abhay, who was subsequently removed from the role. However, minutes before the statement was released, both the central committee members were killed in an alleged encounter in the vast Abhujmad forest of Chhattisgarh, bordering Maharashtra.

Just days ago, the press release undersigned by Abhay, the spokesperson for the central committee of the outlawed party, sparked widespread discussion across the country as it reportedly extended the party’s resolve to “temporarily suspend its armed struggle” to pave the way for peace talks with the government. The Telangana committee of CPI (Maoist) had responded with a clarification to this saying Abhay’s remarks were purely his “personal” views.

The slain Maoists were identified as Katta Ramachandra Reddy alias Vikalp alias Raju Dada (63) and Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy alias Kosa (67), both central committee members, carrying a reward of Rs 40 lakh each, as announced by Chhattisgarh government. They were from Koheda and Sircilla mandals, respectively, in Karimnagar district, Telangana. 

Their statement was delivered to print and electronic media here almost immediately after they learnt about the incident. This raised doubts about the genuineness of police claims about an exchange of fire with Balla Ravindranath, general secretary of Political Prisoners Welfare Committee, even raising doubts that they were killed in a covert operation by security forces with the aid of renegades in the party.

The Telangana civil liberties committee demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

However, the Inspector General of Police of Bastar region, Sundar Raj P., in a release accessed by The Wire informed that intermittent exchange of fire took place between the Maoists and security forces since the morning of September 22. After firing stopped from both sides, the bodies of two male Maoist cadres were recovered along with weapons, explosives and other material. 

The inspector general also said that both of them were active in Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of CPI(Maoist) for over three decades, alleging that they were the masterminds behind numerous violent incidents that led to the loss of security personnel and innocent lives. 

The joint statement

Curiously, both of them had issued a joint statement, dated September 20, where Satyanarayana Reddy identified himself as ‘Abhay’, official spokesman of the central committee, and Ramachandra Reddy, as official spokesman of DKSZC. 

The statement disclosed the party’s decision to replace central committee member Mallojula Venugopal Rao as its official spokesman after he recently unilaterally announced that the CPI(Maoist) “will give up armed struggle” to pave the way for peace talks with the government. 

The alias, 'Abhay', was effectively transferred to Satyanarayana Reddy, thereby relieving Venugopal Rao as official spokesman. Consequently, the responsibilities of DKSZC which were vested with Satyanarayana Reddy as the head were also transferred to Ramachandra Reddy.

The joint statement, their first official communication in the new role which apparently lasted just two days, said the CPI (Maoist) will forge ahead committed to armed struggle and wanting peace talks strongly at the same time. Branding Rao as a party “betrayer”, they said he made a false claim that slain party general secretary Nambala Kesava Rao, alias Basavaraju, favoured laying down arms as a prelude to talks.

The two leaders criticised Venugopal Rao for hatching a conspiracy to disintegrate the party and urged him to shed the attitude. Rao's claim that the party was facing severe repression because of the defeat of its strategy to continue armed struggle and several other strategic failures was devoid of substance, they said. 

Stopping short of initiating any action against him, the joint statement clarified that Venugopal Rao did not have any authority to claim the alias of ‘Abhay’ to issue official statements for the party anymore. 

It was obvious he was keen to give up his position as politburo and central committee member of the party and join the mainstream by surrendering to police. 

"He could have initiated internal debate about his stand on alternative politics but he is not inclined. He and a couple of other central committee members who fell in line with him were free to surrender but they must surrender their arms to party. Otherwise, the party will mandate the People's Liberation Guerilla Army of the party to take their possession," Ramachandra and Satyanarayana Reddy said in their statement.

The sharp differences on armed struggle as the main goal of the party first came into focus after Venugopal Rao reportedly wrote a six page letter to the leadership highlighting various failures because of continued dependence on it. However, former supremo Ganapathi, along with half-a-dozen central committee members were opposed to it. 

It was rumoured that there was no way Rao's proposal could be debated in the central committee or the politburo because of severe repression unleashed by security forces, particularly in its stronghold Chhattisgarh. So, Venugopal Rao decided to air his views publicly by issuing a statement. 

However, the leadership took a serious view of this. 

After the Telangana State committee’s initial reaction to his statement, the central committee, now represented by Ramachandra Reddy and Satyanarayana Reddy, also came up with the same statement. However, their communication had not even reached the media when news broke that they were killed.

This has led to speculation that they were killed in a fake encounter as it was not possible that both of them were at the same spot when the security forces were in hot pursuit, targeting top leaders. Perhaps, the crisis in the party led to their movement, relaxing safeguards.

Civil rights activists and democrats argued that the central committee members enjoyed three tier security. There was no way they could have been killed in an encounter without casualties of lower rung Maoists who formed the security guard. 

This was the first time two central committee members were killed in a single operation after the death of two leaders holding the same positions – Nalla Adi Reddy and Erramshetty Santosh Reddy – in a similar controversial encounter at Koyyur near Manthani in Karimnagar in 1999.

Four central committee members have been killed and one surrendered this month. This leaves only eight others in the committee. Five others, including general secretary Kesava Rao, were killed since the launch of Operation Khagar by the Union government to wipe out Naxalism in the country was launched in January last year.

Of the two members killed recently, Katta Ramachandra Reddy was a government teacher who had joined the People's War 36 years ago. Meanwhile, Satyanarayana Reddy was a worker in Kesoram cement factory at Basantnagar in Karimnagar around the same time when he reportedly joined Maoism. He was also said to be an expert in guerilla warfare. 

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