CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Nambala Keshava Rao Murdered By Security Personnel In Abujhmad Area.

CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Nambala Keshava Rao Murdered By Security Personnel In Abujhmad Area.

New Delhi, May 22, 2025: Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah announced to the press on Wednesday (May 21) that CPI (Maoist) General Secretary Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraj, was among 27 Maoists killed by security personnel in a firefight in the Abujhmad area of Chhattisgarh state that day. One District Reserve Guard (DRG) team member was killed and several other security personnel sustained injuries in the encounter.

According to HAM Shah, the DRG, a specialized unit of the Chhattisgarh State Police, received intelligence inputs about a large number of Central Committee and Politburo members of the Maoist party, as well as senior Maad Division cadres and cadres of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), in Abujhmad area.

HAM Shah said that, following the inputs, teams from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Kondagaon districts were dispatched to Abujhmad for the combing operation that went on for 72 hours inside the thick jungles of the region. During the combing operation a skirmish broke out between cadres of the Maoist party and the security forces.

HAM Shah concluded his remarks by declaring that following the encounter the bodies of 27 Maoists, including Nambala Keshav Rao, were recovered from the site of the gun battle, adding that the combing operation was ongoing.

Meanwhile, Rao’s family members at Jiyannapet were not sure whether his body would be brought to his native village.

Last month, the CPI (Maoist) said it was ready for dialogue if the government withdrew security forces and halted the ongoing offensive.

Early Life of Nambala Keshav Rao

Basavraj was born on July 10, 1955, in Jiyannapet in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh.

He was drawn towards the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology since his engineering days. He joined the CPI (ML) People’s War, led by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, in 1980.

He was also an active member of the RSU.

His active participation with the Maoist movement started in Visakhapatnam. Basavaraj, along with Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, who was killed in July 2010, established the Rythu Coolie Sangham. He had focused on the tribal areas of what is now ASR district.

From 1980 to 1987, he worked in various capacities in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts under the East Division.

After the expulsion of Kondapalli from the party, he was drafted into the Central Committee of the CPI (ML) PWG, which later became CPI (Maoist) with the merger of PWG and MCCI (Maoist Communist Centre of India), in 2004. He had played a key role in the merger and was the main strategist behind the idea of making the ‘Red Corridor’ and ‘Janatana Sarkar’ (People’s Government) in Chhattisgarh state.

In 2001, he became a member of the Politburo of the Maoist party and the chief of the party’s Central Military Commission (CMC).

In a press statement dated November 10, 2018, the CPI (Maoist) announced that Muppalla Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathy had “withdrawn from his responsibilities”, and the new general secretary of the party was Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraj.

Em memória do camarada Basavaraj

Em memória do camarada Basavaraj.

O martírio do camarada Basavaraj, secretário geral da CPI (maoísta), é uma imensa perda para o povo da Índia e os explorados e oprimidos em todo o mundo. Ele viveu uma vida totalmente dedicada a servir o povo e deu liderança capaz ao movimento maoísta. 

O regime Brahmanical Hindutva Fascista Modi está se gabando da morte do camarada. Após esse assassinato, certamente pressionará mais assassino em sua guerra contra o povo, estimulando os pedidos de paz feitos pela ampla sociedade civil. 

O que não percebe, cego por sua arrogância fascista, é essa - a nova revolução democrática não nasceu de um indivíduo. Tampouco terminará com o martírio de um indivíduo, não importa quão precioso fosse essa vida para o povo e a revolução. 

Não é a primeira vez que o movimento maoísta na Índia perde um líder eminente. Esta não é a primeira vez que as classes dominantes se agitam sobre ela. Em breve, provará ser temporário. Logo, eles foram forçados a reconhecer mais uma vez o movimento maoísta como a maior ameaça ao seu governo. 

É isso que vai ser repetido, de novo e de novo e de novo ... até a revolução vencer. Memórias da vida e do martírio do camarada Basavaraj e inúmeros outros sempre permanecerão uma inspiração para o povo, a juventude, deste país. 

Naxalbari nunca morrerá! 

- com. Ajith (murali). 

In Memory of Comrade Basavaraj.

In Memory of Comrade Basavaraj.

The martyrdom of comrade Basavaraj, General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist), is an immense loss for the people of India and the exploited and oppressed throughout the world. He lived a life fully dedicated to serving the people and gave able leadership to the Maoist movement. 

The Brahmanical Hindutva fascist Modi regime is gloating over the death of the comrade. Following this killing, it will surely press on more murderously in its war on the people, spurring calls for peace made by broad civil society.

What it fails to realise, blinded by its fascist arrogance, is this — the new democratic revolution was not born from an individual. Nor will it end with the martyrdom of an individual, no matter how precious that life was for the people and the revolution. 

This is not the first time that the Maoist movement in India has lost an eminent leader. This is not the first time the ruling classes gloated over it. Soon enough it proved to be temporary. Soon enough they were forced to once again acknowledge the Maoist movement as the biggest threat to their rule.

That is what is going to be repeated, again and again and again... till the revolution wins. Memories of the life and martyrdom of comrade Basavaraj and countless others will always remain an inspiration for the people, the youth, of this country.

Naxalbari will never die!

— Com. Ajith (Murali).