Though the decision for the change of guard in the CPI (Maoist) was taken some time in February 2017 in Abujmarh in Chhattisgarh, Nambala Keshav Rao (63) alias Basavraj took over the banned organisation as General Secretary from Muppala Lakshman Rao (72) alias Ganapathi, a few months ago.
Basavraj’s ascension seems to be a strategic move by the Maoists as it coincided with the Assembly elections in at least three Left Wing Extremist-affected States (Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh) and the General and the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019.
In the recent times, the Maoist movement in the Andhra-Odisha Border and Telangana had been on the wane and the first major strike authored by Basavraj after taking over was the killing of Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma near Livitiput village in Dumbriguda mandal in the AOB region on September 23, citing repression of the tribals by the TDP leaders and support to the mining mafia including the bauxite mining, which the tribals had been opposing vehemently.
Such a major strike took place in AP after a long time. The convoy of then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was hit by a claymore mine in Alipiri, Tirupati, in 2003. This was followed by the killing of Chittam Narsi Reddy, MLA, in Narayanapet town in Mahbubnagar in 2005.
The Araku attack was followed by an IED explosion in Bacheli in Dantewada on November 8, on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally, in which four civilians and one CISF constable were killed.
On Sunday, the Maoists triggered at least seven IEDs in the Kanker region in Chhattisgarh, killing one BSF SI.
This is how Basavraj operates. He has a penchant for being offensive and the Araku attack and the blasts in Chhattisgarh are a clear indication that the Maoists have stepped up their offensive, says a senior police officer engaged in anti-Maoist operation in the AOB region.
According to another senior officer from the Intelligence wing (Extremist), AP SIB, the basic reasons for stepping up the offensive are to boost the sagging image and gain the confidence of the tribals, who are now their mainstay as far as the cadres are concerned, and to disrupt the elections.
Basavraj, who earlier headed the Central Military Commission (CMC), the supposed military wing of the Maoists, was also instrumental in the setting up of the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerilla), the main fighting force of the Maoists.
He has his signature on all major attacks in the last 10 years including the killing of former MP Chief Minister Vidya Charan Shukla and Salwa Judum founder Mahendra Karma and 15 others in Chhattisgarh in 2013, said the Intelligence officer.
Explosive revelation
Basavraj is not only a field strategist but an expert with IEDs and sources in the intelligence wing say it was he who planned to embed dumbbell balls in the claymore mine that was triggered on Mr. Chandrababu Naidu’s convoy.
