EXCLUSIVE: Maoists deny having general secretary, call claim of Devuji’s elevation ‘untrue’

The letter, dated October 29 and signed by the outfit’s Odisha State Committee Secretary Paka Hanumanthu alias Ganesh, lashed out at Pulluri Prasada Rao alias Chandranna, who surrendered before Telangana Director General of Police B Shivadhar Reddy on Tuesday. Ganesh, representing the central committee, wrote: “Chandranna claimed that Comrade Devuji has been elevated to the role of General Secretary. But this is completely untrue.”

The letter said the general secretary’s post is an elected one and the central committee, the decision-making body of the banned outfit, should choose the leader. “After Comrade Basavaraju’s killing there was no meeting of the Central Committee,” Ganesh claimed.

The letter, authenticated by Telangana intelligence sources, also accused Chandranna of giving up the armed struggle. “He said that he would like to work amidst the people and renounce arms. This is his opinion alone and not the party’s opinion,” it read.

Chandranna had given up arms after 45 years underground, during which he rose to the outfit’s Central Committee. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, he said: “Thippiri Tirupathi is the leader of the outfit. He is the general secretary.”

Among the senior-most CPI (Maoist) leaders from Telangana, active since the late 1970s, Chandranna surrendered citing health issues. His surrender comes as the outfit faces sustained counter-insurgency operations, high-profile surrenders, and the killings of senior leaders, even as the Centre’s March 2026 deadline to eradicate Left-Wing Extremism looms.