Keshava as new Maoist chief may mean more violence

The elevation of Nambala Keshava Rao, alias Baswaraj, 63, a hardliner, as the new secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Maoists, is sure to spell more violence in the red corridor which traverses the central and eastern parts of the country. Keshava Rao replaced the ageing Muppala Lakshman Rao, alias Ganapathi, 69, a moderate in the ranks of the Maoist/Naxalite leadership.

Until now, Keshava Rao was looking after the central military commission that carries out armed attacks on paramilitary and police forces, apart from negotiating arms deals and imparting training to armed squads, etc. He is said to be behind many major landmine blasts and raids on the Central forces in Chhattisgarh in the last four years.

Keshava Rao’s appointment as secretary, a post in the Maoist party equivalent to the supreme commander of the armed squads, as well as isolated militants and active and sympathetic party members and affiliate units, is aimed at restoring the Naxals’ lost ground in the Dandakaranya forest belt and outside, say police soources.

Keshava Rao, who discon-