
Maoists admit to losses, 350 cadres killed last year
The admission, contained in a 22-page document dated June 23 and circulated by the party's Central Committee, offers a rare official acknowledgment of massive losses and strategic failure from a left-wing extremist movement that the government has vowed to uproot by April, 2026.
The most significant setback was the death of Nambala Kesava Rao, the general secretary of the outfit, on May 21.
Police officials confirmed the document was distributed among cadres and sympathisers following strategic discussions after the killing of Rao, who was known as Basvaraju.
The Maoist leadership attributed their setbacks to 'improper implementation of secret methods of functioning, rules of guerrilla war and tactics formulated by the Central Committee.'
The internal document, seen by Hindustan Times, provides a detailed breakdown of casualties that the party itself acknowledges. Of the 357 dead, the document states 136 were women, with losses spread across their operational zones: Dandakaranya/Bastar in Chhattisgarh (281), Telangana (23), Odisha (20), Bihar-Jharkhand (14), Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-north Chhattisgarh region (8), Andhra-Odisha Special Zone (9), Western Ghats (1), and Punjab (1).
The document categorises these admitted deaths with unusual specificity: 269 in encirclement attacks, 80 in what they term 'fake encounters,' four from ill health and improper treatment, and one in an accident.
The impact was spread over organisational hierarchy too: four Central Committee members including Kesava Rao, 16 state committee leaders, 23 district committee leaders, 83 area committee members, 138 party members, 17 People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) members, and six from organisational wings too were killed.
Police records, however, suggest even higher casualties than what the Maoists admit, with officials claiming 217 Maoists were killed in 2024 alone and approximately 460 by mid-2025.
The setbacks have prompted the rebels to take to a pivot, adopting what they call 'flexible guerrilla war' tactics that emphasise constant mobility and avoiding direct confrontation with superior forces.
The Maoist document explicitly calls for abandoning previous approaches, referencing circulars from the Central Committee and Politburo from February and August 2004. The document states: 'We must be decentralised, class struggle must be made in coordination of legal-illegal, open-secret forms of struggle and organisation.'
The document outlines new tactics using metaphors, stating: 'The guerrilla war goes as per the tactics like 'breeze' and 'flowing water.'' It explains that like a breeze, cadres must maintain 'constant mobility instead of staying in one place,' while the flowing water approach means avoiding 'decisive wars with the enemy that is many times stronger.'
The document asserts that the government's attempts 'to eliminate the revolutionary movement before March 31, 2026 should be defeated by strictly following the tactics formulated by the central committee and politburo.'
While the document claims PLGA forces 'eliminated 75 enemy armed forces and injured 130 and seized few weapons in the past one year' through booby traps, IEDs and ambushes, police officials describe a very different reality.
Vivekanand Sinha, additional director general for Anti-Naxal Operations in Chhattisgarh, said: 'Facing a financial crisis, they've been pushed onto the back foot. Their formations have weakened, and they're now blending in with local villagers. They've become highly suspicious of everyone, which has unfortunately led to a rise in the killing of civilians.'
Intelligence officers report that battalions in Bastar have been broken into smaller units and pushed into inaccessible areas around Indravati National Park, with many rebels abandoning military attire to live among villagers, a person aware of the matter said, asking not to be named. Security forces estimate Maoist cadre strength in Bastar has dropped from several thousand to just a few hundred.
A senior intelligence officer said a separate Politburo circular issued approximately a month ago stated 'the time was not favourable for rebellion,' instructing all cadres to go underground and break large formations into small units to avoid detection.
The shift was confirmed in an interview by Rupesh, a senior CPI (Maoist) cadre, with local journalist Vikas Tiwari, according to police officials aware of the matter. Rupesh reportedly admitted that senior leaders 'have been moved to isolated areas and placed alone, disguised in rural attire, blending in with villagers to avoid detection.' Tiwari confirmed the interview to Hindustan Times.
Close to 20,000 security forces have been deployed across Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for anti-Naxal operations, according to police officials.
The intelligence official quoted above said that to compensate for reduced numbers, Maoists have enhanced perimeter vigilance and are using villagers as spotters and information carriers, though this tactical shift is not explicitly acknowledged in the June document.
Security officials also report an increase in attacks on suspected police informers, with six villagers killed in June alone by Maoists. Intelligence inputs indicate this tactic is being used to conduct reconnaissance and identify suspected informers, though the document does not directly address civilian targeting.
A security official said: 'The political operatives are openly mingling with villagers, often disguised as common civilians, participating in meetings and even staying in villages for extended periods to avoid detection.'
Despite acknowledging massive casualties and strategic failures, the document maintains defiance. It asserts that central and state governments cannot eliminate the revolutionary movement by March 31, 2026, and calls for mounting pressure through civil society groups across 9-10 states to halt Operation Kagar.
The party has called for observing 'martyrs' week' from July 28 to August 3 across their areas of influence.
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At the heart of the protest was rising discontent against the Diwan's proposal to keep Travancore an independent nation, separate from the Indian Union, an idea modelled on the American presidential system. The communists were objected to this 'American model', coining the slogan: 'Throw the American model into the Arabian Sea!' A revolt fuelled by suffering The economic hardship was acute. Food shortages, black market, inflation, unemployment and starvation plagued the people. Landlords, backed by the State, ruled with impunity. In the face of such cruelty, the coir workers' union and the communist party began building ward committees and organising local resistance in Cherthala and Ambalapuzha taluks. By 1945, a general strike was held across Alappuzha, Cherthala and Muhamma, demanding basic rights and rations. The response was swift and brutal in the form of martial law and police repression. The flashpoint On 25 October 1946, as Travancore prepared to declare independence with a U.S.-style constitution, unrest was already boiling over. The All Travancore Trade Union Congress had called for a general strike starting October 22. Thousands of workers took to the streets, marching toward the reserve police camp at Punnapra, demanding freedom. When the protesters reached the camp, the officer-in-charge gave the order to open fire. Several demonstrators were shot dead. The officer and five policemen were also killed in the clashes that followed. Outraged, over 1,000 communists in Vayalar retaliated with crude spears (varikuntham, as it is locally called) carved from arecanut tree stems and killed several police personnel. The Diwan responded by declaring martial law. By October 27, the Travancore army, with naval support, had surrounded Vayalar. Outgunned, the rebels resisted fiercely but were eventually crushed. The exact toll remains uncertain, but hundreds of communists lost their lives in the brutal crackdown. Achuthanandan's role Achuthanandan, then a 23-year-old coir worker and newly minted Communist, was deeply involved in organising workers ahead of the uprising. Though arrested before the final clashes, he played a crucial role in mobilising resistance. After the uprising, V.S. went underground. Escaping to Kottayam through the backwaters, he trekked 30 km to reach Poonjar as instructed by Travancore Communist Party acting secretary K.V. Pathrose. In Poonjar, he hid in the homes of sympathisers but was soon caught and subjected to intense torture. He was presumed dead and nearly dumped in the forest. But he survived and was treated in Pala hospital before being transferred to the Poojappura Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram. Aftermath and legacy Though the uprising was violently suppressed, it dramatically shifted Travancore's political trajectory. It symbolised the awakening of class consciousness among the oppressed and laid the ideological foundation for the rise of Left politics in the State. Less than a year later, Diwan C.P. Ramaswami Iyer resigned and left the State after an attempt on his life. This struggle also led to the beginning of a process through which the two princely States of Travancore and Cochin were first made into what was known as the Travancore-Cochin State. Seven years later, they were merged with the Malabar district of the British-ruled Madras presidency to form the new, united linguistic State of Kerala. In 1957, following the first-ever elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the first democratically communist government came to power under the leadership of E.M.S. Namboodiripad. The communists regard Punnapra-Vayalar uprising as not isolated. It was part of a broader wave of militant actions across Kerala — Karivellur, Kavumbai and Thillankeri in Malabar saw similar uprisings. But the resistance in Alappuzha stood out for its intensity, sacrifice, and impact. The slogan 'the blood of Vayalar is our blood' became a rallying cry for generations of Left activists. A life lived in the spirit of resistance For Achuthanandan, the uprising was a turning point that charted the rest of his life. As a trade unionist, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Minister and elder statesman of the Left, he carried the spirit of Punnapra-Vayalar into every phase of his public life. With his passing, Kerala also looses a bridge to its revolutionary past. But the legacy set by V.S. has ensured that the fire lit in 1946 lives on in Kerala's politics, memory and conscience.