Surrendered Maoist Leader Bhupathi Warns Ideology May Persist Despite Movement's Collapse
In an exclusive interview with TOI at the Gadchiroli police headquarters, surrendered Maoist ideologue Mallojula Venugopal Rao, widely known as Bhupathi, made a stark admission: the Maoist guerrilla movement in India faces potential extinction due to the state's aggressive counter-insurgency drive. However, he emphatically declared that the core ideology will not die.
Ideology to Resurface in New Avatar
"No, it's not the end of the road," Bhupathi stated. "The Maoist ideology may resurface in a different avatar or identity as social inequalities and exploitation of the downtrodden continue." He elaborated in Hindi, "Yeh naam 'Maovad' badal jayega, koi aur naam se jana jayega (the name Maoism may not exist, but it may emerge in another form)."
While Bhupathi has abandoned armed struggle, he insists the underlying principles remain relevant. "I dropped the gun, but certainly not the ideology," he declared. He expressed his intention to continue the struggle peacefully within the constitutional framework, stating that surrender was a necessary step to bring his vision into the public domain.
Admission of Tactical Failures and Internal Dissent
Bhupathi, who joined the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) to combat social injustice, conceded that the movement made grave errors. He pointed to the murder of civilians like Baby Madavi, which backfired and triggered nationwide condemnation. "At times, the CPI (Maoist) brass took wrong decisions and failed to read the ground situation. Internal village disputes would send wrong inputs and trigger mindless bloodshed," he admitted.
He also addressed the controversial policy of blocking development projects like roads and mobile towers, explaining it was primarily aimed at protecting tribal natural resources.
Historic Surrender and Leadership Critique
After four decades with the PLGA, Bhupathi laid down arms before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in September 2025 in a historic mass surrender in Gadchiroli, which involved 61 other cadres and later prompted around 500 more surrenders in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
He attributed the movement's decline to a critical miscalculation: "Maoists underestimated the power of the Indian state, a tactical error that proved costly and accelerated its decline." Bhupathi blamed poor, rigid leadership for the collapse, stating the party failed to evolve with societal changes. "In India, the leadership failed us. One should understand social and political science. When changes take place in society, one has to change with the times to surge ahead. Unfortunately, CPI(Maoist)'s vision was unilateral," he said.
Internal Warnings and Regional Decline
Revealing internal dissent, Bhupathi disclosed that he warned the party as early as November 2024, submitting a proposal to disband the military struggle. "I told the party that a military solution was taking us down, but it refused to mend ways. The majority of comrades were with me, while a minority resisted, remaining holed up in the jungles," he recounted.
He outlined the movement's regional disintegration:
- The Telangana movement ended by 2003.
- The Andhra Pradesh chapter concluded around 2005.
- The Bengal movement nosedived subsequently.
- By 2009, stagnation set in the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh zone.
- Over the next 15 years, it wrapped up across most of India, surviving only in pockets like south Bastar and parts of Dandakaranya through sheer military strength.
"Now, the party is over," Bhupathi stated, though he referenced Karl Marx's Red Manifesto to underscore the ideology's enduring nature despite armed setbacks.
Personal Motivations and Final Appeal
On his wife Tarakka's prior surrender, Bhupathi explained that the party was clueless about securing aging and ailing cadres. "We did not know where to shelter them. It was their decision to surrender," he said.
Dismissing rumors that his surrender resulted from a rift with Thippiri Tirupati alias Devji, who was elevated to general secretary, Bhupathi clarified, "As per the party's decision, I headed to Odisha and Devji was sent to south India. My surrender had nothing to do with my equation with anyone in CPI(Maoist)."
He concluded with an appeal to remaining cadres: "The Karegutta 2.0 operation brings more bad news. Still, there is time; armed cadres should march out of the forests and join the mainstream to continue their fight against injustice in a constitutional manner."
