PNS|Visakhapatnam
Top Maoist leader Nambala Kesava Rao, alias Basava Raju, was killed along with 27 other Maoists in a major anti-insurgency operation in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Wednesday. Kesava Rao, who had been serving as general secretary of the CPI (Maoist) since 2018, was one of the most wanted Maoist leaders, carrying a bounty of Rs 2.02 crore. Security officials confirmed that the operation was based on sustained intelligence gathering and surveillance under the Centre’s coordinated anti-Maoist strategy.
Born on July 10, 1955, in Jiyyannapeta village, Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Rao came from a modest background. His father, Vasudeva Rao, was a schoolteacher. A B.Tech graduate from Regional Engineering College, Warangal (now NIT), he excelled in sports, representing Andhra Pradesh in volleyball at the national level.
Rao’s radical transformation began during his student days. In 1980, after a clash with ABVP members, he was arrested and went underground. He later joined the People’s War Group, marking the start of a decades-long underground political career.
Kesava Rao quickly rose through the Maoist ranks. By 1992, he became a central committee member of the CPI-ML (People’s War), and after the 2004 merger that formed the CPI (Maoist), he took charge of the central military commission. He was the alleged mastermind behind several deadly attacks, including the 2010 Dantewada ambush in which 76 CRPF personnel were killed.
He was also accused in the assassinations of TDP MLA K. Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Sivari Soma in Andhra Pradesh. Until his death, he held key positions in the Maoist leadership, including politburo and central committee memberships, and was part of the editorial board of the party’s publication, Awam-e-Jung.
Calling it a “historic” development, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: “Basavaraj was the backbone of the Naxal movement. For the first time in three decades, a leader of general secretary rank has been eliminated. I congratulate our brave security forces and agencies for this major success.”
However, Diwakar, secretary of the CPI (ML) New Democracy’s Andhra Pradesh State committee, condemned the killing as a “fascist act”. Alleging that Operation Kagar aims to displace tribals and facilitate corporate access to natural resources, he demanded a judicial inquiry by sitting Supreme Court judges, calling the encounter “fake”.
