What was the Radical Students Union, which gave rise to many Maoist leaders in India?

Indian Express

25-05-2025

In April 1972, a young student leader of Osmania University (OU) in Hyderabad, George Reddy, was allegedly killed by members of a right-wing group. While this led to widespread protests and student mobilisation at the time, almost three years later, on February 20, 1975, a students' outfit — Radical Students Union (RSU) — was born out of the embers of this incident. The outfit was banned by the government of India in 1992.
While the RSU as an outfit gradually lost steam, 50 years after its formation, its influence is still alive, as two of the top Maoists in the country – the slain Nambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraju and the next in command Thippiri Tirupathi alias Devuji – are both products of RSU. So is the spokesperson and the current ideological fountainhead of the Maoist party, Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu.
As the Communist Party of India (Maoist) seems to be nearing their endgame, with the Centre setting a deadline of March 31, 2026 to mark the end of Naxalism in India, The Indian Express takes a look at the banned students' outfit that contributed the rank and file of the party.
Early days
'The RSU was a prominent student organisation born out of several incidents, including the Naxalbari movement of the 1960s and '70s which led to widespread students' uprising in the country. George Reddy's killing was a trigger,' said a former students union leader on the condition of anonymity.
An intelligence official from Telangana who has mapped the origins and growth of the RSU said, 'At the time, campuses were up in flames, including Osmania University and REC (Regional Engineering College, which later turned into National Institute of Technology) Warangal. From these students' movements, several people were recruited into the underground party.'
At the time, RSU was considered the student union of People's War Group (or the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War). 'There was a student outfit that represented PWG, the Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU). But the PDSU split in 1975 to form the RSU, which was more radical in its outlook,' the official said.
These students considered academics only a tool for social revolution, a student leader said. 'Across campuses, students used to talk about issues gripping the country, such as poverty and casteism. In those days, the students led protests in villages against feudal landlords,' said the former student leader.
For example, students were part of the Srikakulam Peasant uprising in the undivided Andhra Pradesh that lasted between 1967 and 1970. 'The RSU basically referenced several social movements and built its cadre. The cadre later went underground,' an internal security official told the Indian Express.
There were times when the reach of the RSU was such that their underground and overground cadre roamed freely in the villages of Warangal and Karimnagar, a state official explained. These were called the 'Go to the Villages' campaigns. 'The RSU even contested elections in some campuses, including REC-Warangal. Most of the top leadership of the Maoist party — many of whom are from the Telugu-speaking states — have some link to the RSU,' the official said.
Ban, and decline
In Hyderabad, a 50-year remembrance event of the RSU was held on February 20. One of the organisers of the event, N Venugopal, later wrote, 'There was not a single student issue left unaddressed by the RSU. The RSU's commitment to bringing social awareness to students and the people and involving them in struggles for their community's rights, along with building relationships with the masses, was crucial.'
After the party was banned, its members remained involved with other Maoist groups.
A top internal security official said, 'RSU's influence waned because of the ban. But the cadre was always active in some or the other frontal organisation of the Maoists.'
In 2004, when the People's War and Maoist Communist Centre merged to form the CPI (Maoist), the RSU was fully subsumed underground. 'Offshoots came only in the form of some writers' collectives and such. The state managed to curb this militant outfit even before it could complete its silver jubilee,' the official said.