Muppala Lakshmana Rao | |
|---|---|
| 1st General Secretary of theCommunist Party of India (Maoist) | |
| In office 21 September 2004 – 10 November 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Nambala Keshava Rao |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1949-06-16)16 June 1949 (age 76) |
| Other political affiliations | People's War Group |
| Occupation | Politician, former teacher |
Muppala Lakshmana Rao, commonly known by hisnom de guerreGanapathy (otherwise speltGanapathi), is a major figure in theIndian Maoist movement[1] and formerGeneral Secretary of theCommunist Party of India (Maoist), abanned[2]Maoistinsurgent[3]communist party in India. He resigned from the post in November 2018.[4]
Ganapathy was born in Sarangapur,Karimnagar district ofTelangana. He is a science graduate and also holds aB.Ed. degree.[5] He worked as a teacher in Karimnagar district but deserted his job to pursue higher education inWarangal.[6][7]
InWarangal, Ganapathy came in touch with theMaoist cadres Nalla Adi Reddy andKondapalli Seetharamaiah, and eventually he also decided to join theNaxalite movement in the country. He was one of the early members ofCommunist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War (People's War Group) and grew as General Secretary of the party that is now called as Communist Party of India (Maoist), an output of the merger ofPeople's War Group andMaoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) that took place in 2004. He remains active in thered belt of India including theBastar region ofChhattisgarh.[8]
Other than Ganapathy he is known by several other aliases viz Mupalla Lakshman Rao, Shrinivas, Rajanna, Raji Reddy, Radhakrishna, GP, Chandrasekhar, Azith and CS.[7]
Ganapathy tends to be reclusive and difficult to meet, and has only done a few interviews. This includes an in-depth interview withChindu Sreedharan of rediff.com in 1998, with theBBC, and withRahul Pandita, a journalist from Open magazine and the author of "Hello Bastar" and with Shubhranshu Choudhary a former BBC journalist and writer of "Let's call him Vasu: With Maoists in Chhattisgarh".[1]
Ganapathy is one of the most wanted persons by the Indian security forces for his role in several Naxal activities.National Investigation Agency has announced an award of₹ 1,500,000 for any information leading to his arrest.[7] The total bounty on his head is the highest currently in India, which is₹ 36,000,000.[9] He had been replaced by his second-in-commandNambala Keshava Rao alias Basavaraj in November 2018 due to ill health.[10] Ganapathy had been replaced in his position as Maoist general secretary and is suspected to have fled to thePhilippines throughNepal.[11][12]
