The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a banned Marxist–Leninist–Maoist communist political party and militant organization in India which aims to overthrow the Republic of India through protracted people's war. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the CPIML People's War and the MCCI. The party has been designated as a terrorist organisation in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 2009.

In 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to the Maoists as "the single biggest internal security challenge" for India, and said that the "deprived and alienated sections of the population" form the backbone of the Maoist movement in India. Government officials have declared that, in 2013, 76 districts in the country were affected by "left-wing extremism", with another 106 districts under ideological influence. Chhattisgarh is often affected by the party's militant activities.

In 2024, the party faced a major setback when the government increased its counterinsurgency operations in states affected by the insurgency. Another setback occurred in 2025 when the leader of the group Nambala Keshava Rao, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh.

History The Communist Party of India (Maoist) was founded on 21 September 2004 through the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War (People's War Group) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI). The high-level bilateral meetings between the two erstwhile parties started in February 2003 and continued for several months, entailing discussions on major questions concerning their future political orientation. In the course of these, unity could be found, and 5 Key Papers for the new, unified organisation were finalized and adopted:

• "Hold High the Bright Red Banner of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism", a primarily ideological document explaining the unified party's understanding of the development and content of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism. It forms the cornerstone of the party's ideological and political principles and views.

• "Party Programme", a concise 35-point outline of the party's general political line, synthesized out of more than 30 years of experience of the MCCI and the PWG. It includes the Indian Revolution's minimum and maximum programmes for establishing Socialism-Communism according to the Maoists.

• "Party Constitution", the foremost political-organizational document laying down the Maoists' general program, the rights and duties of their members, party discipline, organisational structure, and how they acquire their funds for operations.

• "Strategy and Tactics of the Indian Revolution", an elaborate class analysis of Indian society, followed up by "the determination of the main blow" of the CPI (Maoist)'s forces at its given stage, as well as the forms of struggle and organisation the Maoists see as appropriate for achieving their aim of "New Democratic and Socialist Revolution".

• "Political Resolution", a detailed analysis of India's Domestic Situation, as well as the International Situation, alongside its call for building the "subjective forces", i.e., the communists' vanguard capability, to utilize what they evaluated as an "excellent revolutionary situation".

The merger was first declared in a "Unity Commune" formed with extensive cultural programmes and security precautions, which ran from early September to early October in 2004."Hail the Formation of Communist Party of India (Maoist)", a 32-page pamphlet by Redical Publications, published in Kolkata in 2004. (see: pp. 2-4 & materials between pp. 12-14) Following that, the founding of the unified party was finally announced to the public on 14 October of the same year. In the course of the merger, a provisional central committee was constituted, with the erstwhile People's War Group leader Muppala Lakshmana Rao, alias "Ganapathi", as general secretary. Further, on May Day 2014, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Naxalbari merged into the CPI (Maoist).

Ideology The CPI (Maoist) observes that the Indian state is being "run by a collaboration of imperialists, the comprador bourgeoisie and feudal lords." According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the two factions of the Party adhered to differing strands of communism before their 2004 merger. However, "both organizations shared their belief in the 'annihilation of class enemies' and in extreme violence as a means to secure organizational goals". The People's War Group (PWG) maintained a Marxist–Leninist stance, while the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) took a Maoist stance. After the merger, the PWG secretary of Andhra Pradesh announced that the newly formed CPI-Maoist would follow Marxism–Leninism–Maoism as its "ideological basis guiding its thinking in all spheres of its activities." Included in this ideology is a commitment to "protracted armed struggle" to undermine and to seize power from the state. On May Day 2014, Ganapathy and Ajith (Secretary of the CPI (ML) Naxalbari) also issued a joint statement stating that "the unified party would [continue to] take Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its guiding ideology."

The party's ideology is contained in a "Party Programme." In the document, the Maoists denounce globalisation as a war on the people by market fundamentalists and the caste system as a form of social oppression. The CPI (Maoist) claim that they are conducting a "people's war", a strategic approach developed by Mao Zedong during the guerrilla warfare phase of the Chinese Communist Party. Their eventual objective is to install a "people's government" via a New Democratic Revolution.

Location and prominence CPI(Maoist) currently operates in the forest belt around central India in the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Odisha. It is present even in remote regions of Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, as well as in Bihar and the tribal-dominated areas in the borderlands of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Odisha. The CPI (Maoist) aims to consolidate its power in this area and establish a Compact Revolutionary Zone from which to advance the people's war in other parts of India. A 2005 Frontline cover story called the Bhamragad Taluka, where the Madia Gond Adivasis live, the heart of the Maoist-affected region in Maharashtra.Guerilla zone , Frontline, 22(21), 8–21 October 2005 DIONNE BUNSHA in Gadchiroli Recently, the Indian government has claimed that in 2013, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal experienced [ideological] "influence" of "Left Wing Extremism"; while claiming that armed activity by the "Left Wing" extremists was noticed in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal.

Organisation The last General Secretary was Thippiri Tirupathi, who was appointed in September 2025 and resigned in February 2026. His predecessor, Nambala Keshava Rao (alias "Basavaraj"), along with 27 other Naxals, was killed during a gunfight with Indian security forces in Abujhmarh, Chhattisgarh, on 21 May 2025. Rao, in turn, took the post after Muppala Lakshmana Rao, who used the alias "Ganapathy". The party hierarchy consists of the Regional Bureaus, which look after two or three states each; the State Committees; the Zonal Committees; the District Committees; and the "dalams" (armed squads). Communist writer Jan Myrdal noted that the CPI (Maoist) also organises events like "The Leadership Training Programme" to endure the forces of the state.

Politburo As per the communist party policies, the highest decision-making body of the CPI (Maoist) is the Politburo, with thirteen or fourteen members, six of whom were killed or arrested between 2007 and 2010. Shamsher Singh Sheri alias Karam Singh, who died of Cerebral Malaria-Jaundice on 30 October 2005, was a Politburo member. Between 2005 and 2011, the State captured several Politburo members of the party, including Sushil Roy alias "Som", Narayan Sanyal alias "N. Prasad", Pramod Mishra, Amitabh Bagchi, Baccha Prasad Singh, Anukul Chandra Naskar and Akhilesh Yadav. Arvind Ji alias "Deo Kumar Singh" died of a heart attack on 21 March 2018. B. Sudhakar, alias "Kiran", was another Politburo member of CPI (Maoist), but he surrendered in 2019. Akkiraju Haragopal, alias "Ramakrishna", died in October 2021 due to illness. Katakam Sudarshan, alias Anand, was a prominent Politburo member until he died in 2023. Ashutosh Tudu and Anuj Thakur are two of the arrested Politburo members of the party. Among those killed, Cherukuri Rajkumar alias "Azad" and Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias "Kishenji", were two past members of the CPI (Maoist)'s Politburo. Prashant Bose alias "Kishan-da" was a member of the Politburo until his arrest. In October 2025, a top Politburo member Mallujola Venugopal, surrendered to the Maharashtra police. On 22 February 2026, the General Secretary and Politburo member Thippiri Tirupathi surrendered in Telangana. On 28 July 2026, Politburo member Misir Besra was arrested in Jharkhand by the police.

+ Current CPI (Maoist) Politburo Members Name Alias(es) Notes Mupalla Laxman Rao Ganapathy Former General Secretary.

Central Committee The Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist) takes direction from the Politburo, passes information to its members, and has 32 members. During an interview in 2010, Anand told media personnel that out of the 45 members of the Central Committee of CPI (Maoist), 8 have been arrested; the agencies of the Indian government have killed 22. Anuradha Ghandy, who died on 12 April 2008, was an eminent member of CPI (Maoist)'s Central Committee. Kadari Satyanarayan Reddy alias "Kosa", Thippiri Tirupathi alias "Devuji", Malla Raji Reddy and Mallujola Venugopal alias "Bhupati" are another three cadres and Central Committee members of the party. Madvi Hidma is the youngest Central Committee member of the party. As of 22 September 2011, nine of the Central Committee members were jailed, including Moti Lal Soren, Vishnu, Varanasi Subramanyam, Shobha, Misir Besra, Purnendu Sekhar Mukherjee, and Vijay Kumar Arya. One more Central Committee member, Ravi Sharma, was captured later. Ginugu Narsimha Reddy alias Jampanna surrendered to police in December 2017. Varkapur Chandramouli, Patel Sudhakar Reddy, Narmada Akka, and Milind Teltumbde were killed by armed forces. Another Central Committee member Haribhushan, died due to COVID. Another CC member, B.G. Krishnamoorthy alias BGK, Vijay was arrested in November 2021 along with another PLGA, Savithri by the Kerala ATS. Another member, Uday, was killed in 2025 by Greyhounds in Andhra Pradesh. In September 2025, Kosa was killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh, Mallujola Venugopal, also a politburo member, surrendered to Police in Maharashtra, and another Central Committee member, Pullari Prasad Rao alias Chandranna, surrendered in Telangana in October 2025. Another member and leader of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee Madvi Hidma was killed in Andhra Pradesh in November 2025. In December 2025, another Central Committee member and Senior leader Ganesh Uike alias Paka Hanumanthu was killed in Odisha. In January 2026, another central committee member, Pathiram Manjhi alias anal da, was killed in Jharkhand by CRPF. On 22 February 2026, two Central Committee members, Thippiri Tirupathi and Malla Raja Reddy, surrendered in Telangana. On 28 July 2026, Central Committee member Misir Besra was arrested in Jharkhand by the police.

+ Current CPI (Maoist) Central Committee Members Name Alias(es) NotesMupalla Laxman RaoGanapathyFormer General Secretary, also a member of the Politburo. Source

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