A senior leader of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) who recently surrendered before police in Telangana has urged the Centre to lift the ban on the outfit and recognise it as a legal political party.
Thippiri Tirupati, also known as Devuji, said the Maoist organisation would be willing to lay down arms if it were allowed to function as a recognised political entity.
Devuji said he had conveyed the demand to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy during a recent meeting and requested him to raise the issue with the Union government.
“We requested the Chief Minister to bring the matter to the notice of the Centre about lifting the ban. The CM responded positively and spoke to the Union Home Minister. They say that only the government should have arms, and not others. We also say that we will hand over arms if our party is recognised as a legal party,” he said.
The former Maoist leader said the organisation had suffered significant losses following intensified security operations, including the Centre’s anti-Maoist campaign known as Operation Kagar.
According to him, several Maoists had been arrested, killed or forced to surrender during the operations, leaving the group weakened and focused mainly on survival.
Devuji, who joined the Naxal movement in 1982, said he was drawn to the organisation because of its stated objective of fighting exploitation and injustice.
Reflecting on his long association with the Maoist movement, he said the group had achieved some success in raising issues related to people’s rights, though it currently faced organisational challenges.
He also spoke about his relationship with former CPI (Maoist) general secretary Nambala Keshav Rao, also known as Basavaraju, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh in May 2025.
Devuji said he was saddened by the death of the Maoist leader.
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Despite surrendering, he maintained that the CPI (Maoist) should be treated as a political organisation rather than a banned outfit.
“The CPI (Maoist) is a political party. We brought it to the chief minister's notice to lift the ban on the organisation,” he said.
He also demanded the release of those jailed as Maoist sympathisers across the country, arguing that they should be recognised as political prisoners rather than labelled as “urban naxals”.
However, Devuji said the Maoist organisation did not favour participating in electoral politics.
“We don’t want to enter the path of ballot. It is the path of ballot if we participate in parliament and assembly elections. We don’t want to participate in parliament and assembly polls,” he said.
Devuji surrendered before Telangana Police on February 24 after spending more than four decades underground. Along with him, three other Maoists also laid down their arms.
A native of Korutla town in Jagtial district of Telangana, Devuji had joined the CPI (ML) People’s War in 1982 and had operated mainly in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra during his time in the insurgent movement.
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