Hyderabad: A central committee member of CPI (Maoist), Mallojula Venugopal Rao, who had recently triggered an ideological conflict in the party on its armed struggle policy, finally surrendered before the superintendent of police of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, Neelotpal, on Tuesday (October 14). Sixty comrades surrendered with him and 54 weapons were recovered.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis flew down to Gadchiroli police headquarters on Wednesday to welcome the Maoists into the mainstream of public life. He also posted on his X handle a live feed of Venugopal Rao and others walking up to him one-by-one and surrendering, along with their firearms.    

At the press meeting, Fadnavis gave each of them a copy of the constitution on the occasion and said there was no place for Maoism and that not a single youth or girl from Gadchiroli had joined the movement in the last four years due to the strict vigil maintained by C-60 commandos of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) of the Central Reserve Police Force.

Earlier on Tuesday, the disarming faction had gathered at Hodri village, in the thick forest of Bamragarh taluq of Gadchiroli district, from where the police shifted them to the district headquarters by buses under tight security. The group was said to have travelled from Chhattisgarh to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra through the national park forest, crossing Indravati river. 

They had seven AK-47 rifles and nine Insas rifles among 54 weapons with them.

Rao, who went by the pseudonyms 'Abhay' and 'Sonu', was the ideological head of CPI (Maoist), a key member of the decision-making politburo of the outlawed party. He tendered his resignation from the politburo after a statement by him that the party was willing to give up armed struggle to pave the way for peace talks with the government was discounted by the party leadership.

The party removed him from the post of official spokesperson and entrusted the task to another central committee member Kadari Satyanarayana Reddy who was killed in an encounter with police in Chhattisgarh within days.

While asking him to quit the party if he was keen on it, the central committee wanted him to deposit the firearm in his possession before leaving. However, he defied the committee and handed it over to the government, as did his supporters who surrendered. 

The party has condemned this and was also critical of the e-mail IDs that he shared on the statement regarding opposing armed struggle.

As the number two in the outlawed party, Rao was also a member of the central military commission, led by Tipparthi Tirupati, who is rumoured to be the party general secretary in the making, following the killing of incumbent Nambala Kesava Rao in an encounter in May. Rao was associated with CPI (Maoist) for nearly 45 years. 

Also read: Has the Maoist Group Split Into Two? And Is One of These Factions Surrendering Arms?

His wife Sidam Vimala Chandra alias Tarakka, who was a wanted Maoist in Gadchiroli, surrendered to Fadnavis during his visit to Gadchiroli on December 31, 2024. Fadnavis had then announced that it was a matter of time before another big face in the party – hinting at Venugopal Rao – would also give up. 

It was just over a month ago that central committee member Sujata alias Maina, wife of Venugopal Rao's younger brother Koteswara Rao, surrendered to the director general of police of Telangana. Koteswara Rao, secretary of the West Bengal committee of CPI (Maoist), was killed in an encounter in 2011.

The latest surrender was on expected lines after Rao addressed a 22-page letter to cadres, offering to step down as politburo member on moral grounds for the loss of lives of a large number of comrades due to the flawed policy of the party to continue armed struggle under adverse conditions. He said he took the decision since he was part of the policy making. 

He had stressed that giving up arms was the only alternative to save the party from the Union government’s 'Operation Kagar', aimed at eliminating Maoist “insurgents”.

The party has suffered huge losses in different parts of the country though it took the revolutionary movement to a new height, by announcing “victories” with attacks on security forces. It failed to make progress by consolidating on its successes.

"I have been a Central Committee member for 28 years and Politburo member for 18 years. Honouring the principle of centralised democracy, I have always supported the Central Committee decisions. But, the committee failed to recognise the secret nature of the party by insisting on its cadre to work among masses in military fatigues. Therefore, the armed structure of the party was exposed to the enemy," he said in the letter to the cadres. 

As the party suffered heavy casualties in Telugu speaking regions from 1998 onwards, its units retreated into Dandakaranya comprising neighbouring states. However, the party overestimated its strength at its congress in 2007. The setbacks in Bihar and Jharkhand in 2013 made the party worry if it should abandon armed struggle. The same was discussed at the politburo meeting in July last year. 

This meant that the party has persisted with armed struggle for over a decade, despite recognising its futility in the face of stepped up offensive by the enemy.

"The need of the hour was to create a conducive atmosphere for ourselves to continue our movement. Let us stop meaningless sacrifices of our cadre and march ahead in new methods. This will ensure the victory of people," Rao noted.

Rao's statement immediately found the backing of the Maad division committee of CPI (Maoist) whose secretary in a release assured to stop violence before October 15 but appealed to security forces to suspend their operations temporarily.

However, the central committee and the Telangana State committee of CPI (Maoist) labelled Rao as a traitor and vowed to continue armed struggle. The Singareni Karmika Samakhya, a frontal organisation of the Maoist party in the coal-belt of Telangana, also pledged to continue the legacy of the party as an armed outfit. 

Police sources said that mostly Maoists in Maad, north Bastar and Gadchiroli divisions, where Venugopal Rao enjoyed influence, are among those who surrendered today. 

Nearly 1,040 Maoists surrendered in Chhattisgarh earlier this year. As many as 471 of them were killed in encounters.

Why Rao’s departure is a setback

Rao’s surrender is a major setback for the party at a time when it was already weakening under the onslaught of Operation Kagar. He was the son of Mallojula Venkataiah and Madhuramma, who lived in Peddapally town of erstwhile Karimnagar district. The government of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh has even honoured Venkataiah with a plaque in recognition of his participation in the Telangana armed struggle against Nizam's tyranny.

Taking inspiration from their father, Koteswara and Venugopal Rao had joined the erstwhile People's War. While Koteswara joined first, Venugopal followed while he was working as an apprentice in the public relations department of the government at Adilabad.

Initially, he joined the Radical Students Union (RSU), the students wing of People’s War, at Sultanabad, where Wadkapur Chandramouli led party activities in early 80s. It was in 1981 that Rao was enrolled into the People’s War as a fulltimer, following which he went underground immediately.

He was arrested by police of Mahadevpur and subsequently released on bail in 1982, after which, the party deputed him in Gadchiroli for expansion of its activities. He went on to become the secretary of Dandakaranya special zonal committee in 1992 and central committee member in 1995. He was made a politburo member in 2007. 

After the death of party's official spokesman Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in an encounter in 2011, he ascended the post and vested with powers to communicate with the outside world. He held complete sway over the party activities in that capacity and came to be recognised as the most influential strategist of CPI (Maoist). 

He carried rewards up to Rs 6 crore on his head by various state governments.

His mother Madhuramma had expressed a desire to see both her sons until her death in 2022. However, Rao wrote a letter to the family saying he could not be there for her funeral as he would never leave the party. Now, Rao’s nephew Dililp, who is the son of the eldest sibling Anjaneyulu, has welcomed him home. 

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