Attack on BJP convoy bears signature of new naxal chief Nambala Keshav Rao
New Delhi, Apr 09: When Basava Raju alias Nambala Keshav Rao took over as the new naxal chief, it was a signal that the Maoists were making a tactical shift. He took over as the chief from Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy, who is 72 years old.
The naxalites were trying to signal that they wanted a younger chief in place, who is known for his aggression. The signal was clear and the naxalites wanted to make their movement extremely aggressive before the elections.
[Naxalites attack BJP convoy: An intelligence alert warned of similar attacks in March]
Sources tell OneIndia, the attack on the BJP convoy, which left five including its MLA dead clearly bears the signature of Rao. In March, the Intelligence Bureau had warned that Rao is mobilising cadres in a big way to target the Indian elections.
Nambala
Keshav
Rao,
who
originally
hails
from
Srikakulam
district
in
Andhra
Pradesh.
The
decision
to
change
the
leader
was
taken
as
the
naxalites
wanted
a
younger
man
to
head
the
outfit.
Moreover
a
large
number
of
the
cadres
felt
that
in
order
to
get
more
aggressive,
a
new
and
young
leader
should
be
appointed.
Ganapathy
has
headed
the
CPI
(Maoist)
since
it
was
formed
in
2004.
The
outfit
was
merged
with
the
Peoples' War
Group,
CPI
(Marxist-Lennist)
and
the
Maoist
Communist
Centre
of
India.
With a change in leadership, the naxalites wanted to infuse fresh life into the movement. With the security agencies attaining major success in bringing down the naxal spread, the cadres felt the need for a regime change. Further the number of naxal surrenders have gone up and each one of them has cited disillusionment as the primary reason. It may be recalled that earlier this week a total of 64 naxalites surrendered in Chhattisgarh stating that they were disillusioned with the ideology.
After Rao took over, including the BJP convoy attack, there have been three major incidents and the modus operandi suggests that the new strategy is more aggressive. The first was killing of the two leaders at Araku. They were surrounded by 50 naxals and ten of them opened fire on the two leaders.
The other incident took place in Chhattisgarh when a Doordarshan cameraman and two security personnel were killed. Both according to the security agencies were hits ordered by the new chief.
Who is Nambala Keshav Rao:
Rao took over as the chief of the CPI (Maoist), which was formed in 2004, following the merger with the Peoples' War Group, CPI (Marxist-Lennist) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India.
Rao, an aggressive planner and strategist hails from Andhra Pradesh. His address has been listed as, "VillageJiyannapet, PS & Mandalam-Kotabommali, Dist-Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh." He is the son of late N Vasudeva Rao.
He
is
an
engineering
graduate
from
the
Regional
Engineering
College,
Warrangal,
which
is
now
called
the
National
Institute
of
Technology.
He
has
been
a
second
in
command
to
Ganapathy
and
headed
the
Central
Military
Commission
of
the
CPI
(Maoists).
Intelligence
Bureau
officials
describe
him
as
an
aggressive
cadre
and
a
key
strategist.
He
specialises
in
use
of
improvised
explosive
devices.
He
has
been
responsible
for
training
several
cadres
in
the
use
of
IEDs.
As the head of the CMC or Central Military Commission, he was responsible for planning and directing guerrilla activity. He was also in charge of chalking out the strategy and source arms and ammunition. He was also the overall in charge of the sub committees such as the Zonal Military Committee and Special Area Military Committee.
He is also well versed with the key areas that the naxals control in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chattisgarh.
When asked if there were differences between Ganapathy and Rao, officials said that they are most likely to work together. The movement would continue to draw from the ideology of Ganapathy, while Rao would be used for his military skills. He would also be tasked with bringing in new cadres into the movement. For long now, the naxalites have been speaking about the need for a second rung leadership. With Rao at the helm, he would be responsible for building that as well, officials also said.