Hyderabad: Thippiri Tirupathi, aged about 62 years, is the new chief of the outlawed Communist Party of India (CPI) (Maoist). He was elected as the general secretary of the party after his predecessor, Nambala Kesava Rao alias Basavaraju and 26 other Maoists, were killed in an alleged encounter with security forces in the forests of Narayanpur district in Chhattisgarh on May 21.

This was disclosed by CPI (Maoist) central committee member Pulluri Prasad Rao alias Chandranna, who was presented to the media in Hyderabad by Telangana director general of police B. Shivadhar Reddy on Tuesday, October 28. It was, however, not clear whether Chandranna was arrested or had surrendered to the police. A press release distributed at the conference stated that Chandranna and another senior leader, Bandi Prakash, “left CPI (Maoist) and joined the mainstream before the Telangana police”.

Asked by a journalist, the DGP did not deny arrest, merely saying “it was all the same”. He introduced the other Maoist leader as Telangana state committee member Bandi Prakash.

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Reports that Tirupathi alias Devji, known for his experience in guerrilla warfare, had ascended to the top post in the crisis-ridden Maoist outfit had been circulating after Basavaraju’s death. However, the police or the party never confirmed them. A Facebook page, believed to be based in West Bengal, initially claimed it, followed by a leak from the Andhra Pradesh police after a senior leader, Kamalesh, surrendered before them.

Tirupathi, a native of Korutla town in the Jagtial district of Telangana, edited an underground military publication, Awami Jung, which carried articles about the achievements and sacrifices of the CPI (Maoist). He was also a central committee member.

Chandranna said that Tirupathi was elected to the post amid a split in the party between two groups advocating “armed struggle” and “unarmed struggle.” While in police custody, Chandranna said he supported Tirupathi, who owed allegiance to the faction preaching armed struggle. He opposed the leadership of Mallojula Venugopal Rao, who spearheaded the breakaway faction favoring unarmed combat.

As many as 370 cadres of CPI (Maoist) supporting Venugopal Rao have surrendered to security forces with 270 guns in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh in the last few days. The latest batch of 21 gave up with 18 guns in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh on October 27.

With a raised fist symbolising the trademark 'laal salaam' salute of Left supporters, Chandranna also said the party’s ideology of waging armed struggle was “alive”. “It will be alive as long as people wedded to it live,” he declared, adding, “I will work for our party overground.” As police officers whisked him away from the media, he promised to hold another press conference soon to explain in detail the turmoil within the party due to “Operation Kagar” – launched by the Union government to root out Maoism by March 31, 2026 – and the mass surrenders of cadres. He said he was leaving [underground life] on health grounds.

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DGP Sivadhar Reddy said the surrender of Chandranna and Bandi Prakash had left the party with five central committee members and ten state committee members from Telangana. There were 64 underground cadres from Telangana, of whom only nine were operating within the state.

The emergence of Chandranna and Bandi Prakash followed the surrender of several senior leaders, including Venugopal Rao and his close associate Ashanna, in recent days. Ashanna released a 30-minute video on Saturday justifying their surrender as necessary to protect the revolutionary movement in the changed circumstances following Operation Kagar. He said “the human revolution was still left.”

Ashanna reiterated that the decision to withdraw from armed struggle had been taken during Basavaraju’s lifetime, in April or May. Anticipating heavy casualties due to Operation Kagar, party leaders reviewed their ideology and concluded that protecting cadres was the priority. They decided not to respond to criticism from rivals branding them as traitors.

Earlier, the central committee had appealed to the revolutionary public to deliver “the right punishment” to Venugopal Rao, Ashanna, and their supporters who had turned hostile to the revolutionary movement and surrendered to police. The party labelled them “traitors of the revolution and destroyers of the party.”

The party alleged that Venugopal Rao had been in touch with the Maharashtra government after his wife surrendered before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on December 31, 2024. Similarly, Ashanna was said to be in contact with the Chhattisgarh Home Minister and senior police officials. He was reportedly supported by three Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee members—Santu, Bhaskar (Rajman), and Ranita—who also surrendered.

The party assured the people of the country that it would not surrender to the “enemy,” stating that whether Venugopal Rao, Ashanna, or anyone else gave up, it remained a historical norm to wage higher forms of people’s war as long as class conflicts continued.

In this background, the Union Home Ministry issued a statement on Saturday saying that security forces had killed 270 Maoists in encounters this year as part of Operation Kagar. As many as 680 were arrested and 1,225 surrendered. Naxalite-related violence had come down by 53%, deaths of security personnel by 73%, and deaths of civilians by 70% during the period 2014–2024 compared to the previous decade.

The number of Naxalite-affected districts in the country has fallen from 126 in 2014 to 18 in 2024, according to the press release issued by the Union government on October 25, 2025.

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