The impressive recent activities by the CPI (Maoist) during the latest campaign for electoral boycott show that people's war is neither stagnating nor slowing down. Especially in light of the latest Gadchiroli attack where 16 security forces of the comprador Indian state were killed, one comrade in particular was named by the Indian reaction.
That is the Comrade Basavaraju, the new General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist). And his story is one of unifying the party, which means unifying the people and it is a long, hard struggle. Spontaneous resistance in India against the oppressors is as old as imperialist rule. May it be the numerous national liberation struggles of the Kashmiris, the Telgus, the Manipuris and many others, the struggle of the women, the struggle of the lowest castes, the casteless Daliths and the Indian Natives, the Adivasi, the many religious minorities as well as the workers and the poor and landless peasants, there is a great tradition of militant resistance against imperialism, feudalism and the bureaucratic state that serves them.
Following we publish a press release of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist) that shows how the many small revolutionary streams in India that existed after the destruction of the party of the great Charu Mazumdar, unified into a mighty stream, as well as the outstanding role played by the CPI(ML) People’s War and its leader Ganapathi.
The document is from 2018 and informs that Comrade Ganapathi has withdrawn from his position as Secretary-General of the Unity Party. A new comrade has been appointed secretary general - Comrade Basavaraju.
This was a historic happening. Not once before was there a change of a parties leader during an ongoing people's war, that was neither forced by the reaction, nor by revisionism. It show the immense ripeness, politically and ideologically of the CPI(Maoist). And with the latest developments of the people’s war, it looks very much like Comrade Basavaraju is leading the unified struggle of the Indian people against Imperialism in a creative and successful manner.
Long live the CPI(Maoist)!
Long live the People's War in India!
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MAOIST) Central Committee
Press Release
10 November 2018
As the General Secretary of CPI (Maoist) Comrade Ganapathy has voluntarily withdrawn from his responsibilities, the Central Committee has elected Comrade Basavaraju as the new General Secretary
In view of his growing ill-health and advancing age in the past few years and with the aim of strengthening the Central Committee and with a vision of the future, Comrade Ganapathy voluntarily withdrew from the responsibilities of General Secretary and placed a proposal to elect another comrade as General Secretary in his place, following which the 5th meeting of the Central Committee thoroughly discussed his proposal and after accepting it, elected Comrade Basavaraju (Namballa Kesava Rao) as the new General Secretary. Comrade Ganapathy was elected as the General Secretary of the CPI(ML)(People’s War) in June 1992. That was a very difficult time for the Party. By 1991, the Andhra Pradesh government started the second phase of repression on the Party. The Party was facing several challenges at that time regarding the tactics to be adopted to advance the armed struggle. The then secretary of the Central Committee, Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, was not in a position to overcome those challenges that the Party was facing by leading his committee. In such conditions, instead of overcoming those challenges by basing on all the Party cadres and the people, Kondapalli Seetharamaiah and another member of the Central Committee followed conspiratorial methods and became the cause of internal crisis in the Party. Except a few opportunists, the whole Party stood united in the principled fight against this opportunist clique which made attempts to split the Party. On that occasion, the methods that the young leadership in the Central Committee adopted to face the internal crisis helped like a good education campaign for the whole Party and rectified the Party’s style of functioning. The ideological and political level of the whole Party was developed. Mainly, collective leadership and collective team-functioning in the Central Committee was developed. Comrade Ganapathy stood at the forefront and played a vital role in this effort of the revolutionary leadership in the Central Committee. In that process, the entire Party stood together, defeated the conspirators and prepared itself to face the challenges before it by adhering to democratic centralism. In such conditions, the Central Committee that developed as a collective leadership elected Comrade Ganapathy as the new General Secretary. In 1995, we held the All India Special Conference and enriched the Party line. That Conference elected a new Central Committee. The newly elected Central Committee again elected Comrade Ganapathy as the General Secretary. In August 1998, the CPI(ML)(People’s War) and CPI(ML)(Party Unity) merged and CPI(ML) [People’s War] was formed. With that development, the Party expanded to many states and gained a more all-India character. The new Central Committee formed on that occasion too elected Comrade Ganapathy as the General Secretary. By 2 December 2000, we developed the military line and built the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army. The Ninth Congress of the erstwhile CPI(ML)[People’s War] held in 2001 further enriched the political, military and organisational line of the Party. As a part of applying the strategy of Protracted People’s War to the concrete conditions of India, that Congress made new innovations like building Guerrilla Bases. The Party emphasised on building the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army and also on the relation between the People’s War and State Power under the leadership of the Central Military Commission. The newly formed Central Committee once again elected Comrade Ganapathy as the General Secretary. On 21 September 2004, CPI(ML)[People’s War] and Maoist Communist Centre of India merged and CPI(Maoist) emerged. With this merger based on an enriched ideological and political line, the Indian revolutionary movement achieved a great leap. This development is a milestone in the history of Indian revolutionary movement. This development further strengthened as well as expanded the Party. The guerrilla armies of the two parties were merged and it took the form of a strong People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA). By 2004 itself, many revolutionary groups and individuals that were like small streams in the country merged into the MCCI and CPI(ML)[People’s War] that were by that time the two main revolutionary streams. These two main streams merged as the CPI(Maoist) and transformed into a great stream. Leaders of Naxalbari generation with vast experience who served many vital responsibilities were also there in the Party formed in this way. The Central Committee of a Party with such leaders and cadres elected Comrade Ganapathy as the General Secretary. The Unity Congress-9th Congress held in 2007 too unanimously elected him as the General Secretary. After the Unity Congress- 9th Congress, the movement developed to newer heights in the leadership of the Central Committee. In this process of development, we can say that the unification process of the revolutionary Parties of India was almost completed with the merger of CPI(ML)(Naxalbari) and CPI(Maoist) at the end of 2013. In the period of 25 years from 1992 to 2017 during which Comrade Ganapathy performed his responsibilities as the General Secretary, the movement under the central leadership faced many ebb and flows and advanced. The Party was tempered in the intense class struggle. It provided a staunch proletarian leadership to the revolutionary ranks and the revolutionary people to defeat the counter-revolutionary attack of the enemy. In this process, Comrade Ganapathy withdrew from the responsibilities of General Secretary in view of his growing ill-health and age and got prepared to devote his whole strength and capabilities as before with a view to further strengthen the Central Committee and the entire Party. Due to this, the Central Committee elected Comrade Basavaraju (Namballa Kesava Rao) as the General Secretary. Comrade Basavaraju has been in the forefront of the Party for more than three and a half decades and successfully provided leadership as the secretary of various committees, as a member of the Central Committee for the past 27 years and as a member of the Politburo for the past 18 years. Mainly, he was the in-charge of the Central Military Commission and played a vital role in the advancement of the People’s War. To say more specifically, he developed as the General Secretary from being one of the main comrades of the Central Committee that developed as the collective leadership after 1992. These changes that have been made in the Central Committee of the Party are part of the process of development of the entire Party. These changes will further strengthen the Central Committee. The Central Committee assures the entire rank and file of our Party and the revolutionary masses that it will be absolutely firm and inflexible in implementing the oganizational principle of the Party – democratic centralism – and the principle of self-criticism-criticism, provide collective central leadership to the entire rank and file of the Party and the revolutionary people, defeat the ongoing fascist strategic counter-revolutionary offensive of the enemy in the name of ‘SAMADHAN’ based on mass line and class line, mobilise the people in the people’s war and lead the New Democratic Revolution in the country to success as the vanguard of the proletariat.
Abhay Spokesperson Central Committee