Maoists go red over old age & ailments

HYDERABAD: The Maoist party is hit by a double whammy. Not just identity crisis, the party leadership is ageing and ailing. Supreme commander and general secretary of CPI(Maoist) Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavraj, who took over the reins of the party after the resignation of Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathi, is 65.

Believe it or not, the average age of top leaders in the Maoist Central Committee (CC) is 59 years. Out of 22 CC members, the oldest is 73-year-old Kishan Da of West Bengal followed by Ganapathi at 72. The youngest CC member is 52-year-old Deepak of Maharashtra.

Asserting that the party is facing a severe leadership crisis at the top, former CRPF director general Kode Durga Prasad said leaders like Ganapathi are not even able to walk. “Though Ganapathi is no more the party general secretary, he is in CC as an advisor. The party brought in some young leaders into CC, but the ageing leadership is a big worry,” he told TOI.

Except two, other CC members operate from safe zones in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra-Odisha border.

Basavraj operates from Maad division in Chhattisgarh along with party spokesperson Mallojula Venugopal alias Sonu, chief of Central Military Commission Thippiri Tirupati alias Deoji and senior leader Katakam Sudarshan alias Anand. Saranda forest in Jharkhand is home to Kishan Da, Misir Besra alias Sagar.

TOI is in possession of data on left-wing extremism which says out of 22 CC members, 11 belong to Telangana. Four leaders hail from Jharkhand, two each from AP, West Bengal and Maharashtra and one leader belongs to Bihar.

There is only one woman CC member, Sheela Marandi alias Hema, wife of Kishan Da.



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