A profile prepared by the Special Intelligence Branch of the Andhra Pradesh Police describes Mallojula Koteswara Rao, alias Kishenji, as a “shy youth”, though with a violent streak and fiercely devoted to the Naxal cause. In the wake of what is happening in West Bengal, with Kishenji with his back to the cameras or face covered a constant media presence, “shy” is a word few would associate with the 56-year-old Politburo member of the CPI(Maoist).

“He has shed his skin,” chuckles famous Maoist lawyer of Andhra Pradesh K G Kannabiran. However, as he adds, the change in Kishenji reflects the worrying change in the Naxal movement in the country. “I think it is a message to the government, saying that their position has become very strong now. It is like an announcement of their strength and they want to make it visible and to communicate it effectively. Maoists were never known to do this before, but things change, and the media is a powerful medium now,” Kannabiran says.

Kishenji’s emergence as the most-visible face of the Naxal movement is the result of a 30-year journey that began in his small village of Naachpalli in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. The burning of a government bus and property outside his local school in 1996 marked his initiation into the “movement”. Now the CPI(Maoist) Politburo member is leading the operations in Lalgarh in West Bengal and is credited with propounding and putting into practice the theory of converting mass protests into violent agitations against the government.

... contd.