Hyderabad: The death of Chalapati, a top leader of the outlawed CPI (Maoist)’s Central Committee, has reduced its leadership to 19 members, underscoring the vulnerabilities plaguing the insurgent group.
This loss, combined with broader setbacks, highlights the fragile state of the party, especially as its leadership ages and suffers from declining health, complicating its ability to sustain its decades long insurgency. Intelligence reports indicate that a majority of these leaders have retreated to the tri-junction of the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB), Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
Of these, 14 members are from Telangana, and most of the leaders are between 55 and 75 years old. With health problems escalating, their capacity to lead is becoming increasingly limited.
Chalapati (62), a native of Chittoor district, was a key figure in the CPI (Maoist) as both a Central Committee member and secretary of the Odisha State Committee. He died in an exchange of fire on Tuesday. Struggling with chronic knee pain and obesity, Chalapati’s health had already impeded his ability to lead in the field effectively. His death marks another significant blow to the Maoist movement.
Traditional strongholds abandoned
Sources from Telangana police said that sustained operations by state and central forces, along with the continuous neutralisation of Maoist cadres, have forced the Central Committee to abandon its traditional strongholds in dense forests. The leadership’s decision last year to decentralise operations, particularly in response to the ‘Kagar Operation,’ has led several militants to relocate to urban areas.
These operations, especially aggressive combing by COBRA forces and state assault teams, have made the aging leadership a liability. Telangana police officials observe that the ailing leaders now struggle to adapt to the modernised tactics employed by security forces, further weakening their command.
New tactics
As a sign of the dire situation, the Central Committee had issued a circular in Feb 2024, acknowledging the drastic losses and the shrinking scope of their military formations. Describing the govt’s actions as a ‘Kagar War,’ or the ‘Last War,’ the document laid out a three-year strategy to adapt to the mounting pressures, aiming to preserve the ability to regroup when conditions allow.
With the central and state forces ramping up their operations, the survival of the Maoist leadership has never been more precarious. The ongoing decline in their health and the mounting pressure from law enforcement suggests the days of the once formidable Maoist leadership are numbered, an observer said.
