The movement drew on Marxist-Leninist and Maoist revolutionary thought while responding to local questions involving land, labour, tribal rights, social inequality and the authority of landlords and the state. It combined armed insurgency with political mobilisation, village-level organisation and a powerful cultural movement involving poetry, songs, street performances and revolutionary literature.
Telangana became one of the most important centres of the People's War movement. Warangal and other parts of North Telangana became important centres of radical student and agrarian mobilisation, while forested areas provided terrain for guerrilla activity. The movement also produced serious human costs. Civilians, police personnel, security forces and Maoist cadres were killed in decades of attacks, encounters, reprisals and counter-insurgency operations.
The decline was gradual. Security operations, the expansion of intelligence networks, the Greyhounds, loss of territorial influence, internal divisions, development and welfare programmes, declining recruitment and increasingly large-scale surrenders steadily weakened the movement.
By 2026, the organisational structure of the CPI (Maoist) in Telangana had effectively collapsed. A major surrender of 130 Maoists took place in March 2026, followed by the surrender of senior State Committee member Kakarala Samatha in August. In August 2026, Telangana's Director General of Police declared the state CPI (Maoist)-free. Residual risks nevertheless remained, particularly from abandoned explosives and other remnants of the former insurgency.
The later Naxalite movement in Telangana cannot be understood without reference to the Telangana Armed Peasant Struggle of 1946–1951. That earlier communist-led agrarian uprising opposed the feudal order under the Hyderabad State and involved peasant mobilisation, village committees, land struggles and armed guerrilla activity.
The Naxalite movement emerged from a different national revolutionary current following the Naxalbari uprising of 1967 in West Bengal. Revolutionary communist politics subsequently spread to other parts of India, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
By the 1970s, radical student organisations had become important recruitment and ideological networks in Telangana. Warangal, Hyderabad and other urban centres provided links between students, teachers, writers and activists and the emerging underground revolutionary movement.
The Radical Students Union (RSU) became particularly important in the Telugu-speaking region. Student activists increasingly connected campus politics with rural struggles involving land, labour and social inequality.
Warangal became one of the most important centres of this radical student movement. Several future underground leaders had backgrounds in student activism before entering the armed movement.
The movement also expanded through agrarian struggles in North Telangana, particularly in areas of present-day Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Adilabad, Warangal and surrounding districts.
A decisive development came in 1980, when Kondapalli Seetharamaiah and other revolutionary communist leaders established the CPI (ML) People's War, commonly known as the People's War Group (PWG).
The organisation sought to build a revolutionary movement through armed struggle, guerrilla warfare, rural mobilisation and the creation of alternative forms of political authority in areas where it had influence.
North Telangana became one of the movement's most important operational areas. Armed squads, underground networks, village-level organisations and mass organisations gradually expanded.
The revolutionary movement in Telangana was not confined to armed activity. Cultural organisations played an important role in spreading revolutionary ideas among workers, peasants and students.
- Gaddar (Gummadi Vittal Rao) became the best-known revolutionary folk singer associated with the movement. His songs, performances and use of Telangana folk traditions helped bring political themes to rural audiences.
- Varavara Rao became an influential poet, writer and public intellectual associated with revolutionary politics and the cultural movement.
- Jana Natya Mandali became an important cultural platform associated with the People's War movement, using songs, theatre and folk performance for political mobilisation.
On 20 April 1981, police opened fire on a large gathering of Adivasis at Indravelli in Adilabad district. The gathering involved demands and grievances concerning tribal rights, land and exploitation.
The number of people killed remains disputed. Official accounts reported a substantially lower death toll, while civil-liberties investigators, journalists and eyewitnesses subsequently alleged much higher casualties, with estimates ranging from several dozen to more than 100.
Indravelli nevertheless became one of the most enduring symbols of Adivasi grievances and state violence in Telangana. The incident was subsequently incorporated into Maoist and Adivasi political narratives and became an important reference point for recruitment and mobilisation.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the People's War movement expanded through a combination of armed squads, underground organisation, mass mobilisation and village-level political activity.
- Agrarian mobilisation: Campaigns focused on land, wages, bonded labour, moneylending and landlord power.
- Guerrilla warfare: Small armed squads operated in rural and forest areas using ambushes and hit-and-run tactics.
- Village organisations: In areas where the movement gained influence, committees and informal systems of revolutionary authority were established.
- Revolutionary justice: Maoist organisations conducted informal hearings and punished people accused of acting against the movement.
- Cross-regional networks: The movement increasingly connected Telangana with neighbouring areas of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and the wider Dandakaranya region.
- Loss of life: Civilians, Maoist cadres and security personnel were killed during decades of conflict.
- Displacement: Some communities were displaced by fighting, security operations and Maoist activity.
- Economic disruption: Agriculture, trade, transportation and education were affected in areas experiencing prolonged violence.
- Fear and coercion: Villagers could face pressure from both Maoist organisations and security agencies.
- Informant killings: Maoists frequently accused villagers of providing information to police and punished or killed some of those accused.
- Security-force pressure: Villagers suspected of assisting Maoists could face interrogation, arrest or other forms of police pressure.
The civilian experience was therefore complex. Rural communities were not simply divided into "Maoist" and "government" supporters; many people attempted to survive between competing sources of coercion and authority.
Successive governments responded through a combination of security operations, intelligence gathering, arrests, development programmes, surrender policies and, at different times, negotiations.
- Greyhounds: Andhra Pradesh established the Greyhounds as a specialised anti-Maoist force. It became one of India's best-known counter-insurgency units.
- State police: District police and intelligence units played a central role in identifying Maoist networks and supporting operations.
- Central forces: CAPF formations, including CRPF and CoBRA units, were deployed in affected regions as part of broader counter-insurgency operations.
- Legal measures: Governments used criminal law, public-security legislation, preventive detention provisions and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as applicable to particular periods and cases.
- Peace initiatives: Governments periodically attempted negotiations and ceasefires, including the 2004 peace process, although talks ultimately broke down.
- Development: Roads, housing, welfare programmes, education, health services and administrative expansion increasingly accompanied security operations.
The decline of the Maoist movement in Telangana was a long process rather than a single event.
- Leadership losses: Repeated arrests and encounters weakened the senior leadership.
- Greyhounds and intelligence operations: Improved intelligence and specialised jungle operations reduced the movement's ability to operate inside Telangana.
- Loss of recruitment: The movement increasingly struggled to attract new cadres, particularly after the 2000s.
- Internal divisions: Political and organisational disagreements weakened cohesion.
- Development and state presence: Improved roads, communications, welfare delivery and government services reduced some of the organisational advantages enjoyed by the insurgency in remote areas.
- Surrenders: Increasing numbers of cadres chose rehabilitation rather than continued underground activity.
As security pressure increased in Telangana, many experienced cadres moved into the broader Dandakaranya region, particularly areas of present-day Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Maharashtra.
Dandakaranya became the principal operational centre of the CPI (Maoist), especially in Bastar and adjoining forest regions. Several senior Maoist leaders with origins in Telangana played important organisational and ideological roles there.
This movement of cadres explains why the decline of Maoism inside Telangana did not immediately mean the disappearance of Telangana's historical influence on the wider insurgency.
The Naxalite movement began with the Naxalbari uprising of 1967 in West Bengal and subsequently spread to several states. During its later phase, the CPI (Maoist) became the principal organisation leading the armed Maoist insurgency.
The movement's strongest territorial presence eventually developed across parts of central and eastern India, especially forested tribal regions of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra and adjoining areas.
The Government of India reports a dramatic decline in the geographical extent of Left Wing Extremism. The number of districts officially categorized as LWE-affected declined from 126 in 2013 to 38 in April 2024, 8 in December 2025 and zero in March/April 2026.
In 2025 alone, the Government of India recorded 2,337 Naxalite surrenders. Between 2024 and March 2026, 3,927 cadres surrendered nationally according to the Union government's later assessment.
On 14 October 2025, senior CPI (Maoist) leader Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi/Sonu, a Central Committee and Politburo member and one of the organisation's influential strategists, surrendered in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, along with approximately 60 other cadres.
The surrender represented a major setback to the organisation's senior leadership and highlighted growing disagreements within the Maoist movement over the viability of the armed struggle.
In October 2025, several senior Telangana-linked Maoist leaders also surrendered before the Telangana Police. The surrender wave reflected increasing pressure on the underground organisation and growing willingness among senior cadres to enter rehabilitation programmes.
On 22 November 2025, 37 underground CPI (Maoist) cadres surrendered before the Telangana Police in Hyderabad. The group included three senior State Committee members: Koyyada Sambaiah alias Azad, Appasi Narayana alias Ramesh and Muchaki Somada alias Erra.
The group handed over weapons and received rehabilitation assistance. Telangana police attributed the weakening of the organisation to sustained security pressure, ideological differences, internal divisions and restrictions on movement.
On 3 January 2026, PLGA Battalion Commander Badse Sukka alias Deva surrendered before the Telangana Police along with 19 other Maoists, for a total of 20 cadres.
The surrender included weapons and ammunition and was described by Telangana police as a major blow to the remaining PLGA structure.
Police statements about the remaining strength of the PLGA should be understood as official assessments rather than independently verifiable organisational statistics.
On 24 February 2026, senior Maoist leader Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji formally surrendered before the Telangana Police.
Devji, a Politburo and Central Committee member and an important strategist of the organisation, surrendered along with Malla Raji Reddy alias Sangram, Bade Chokka Rao alias Damodar/Jagan and Nune Narasimha Reddy alias Ganganna.
The surrender effectively dismantled the remaining senior leadership structure of the Maoist organisation in Telangana.
On 7 March 2026, 130 Maoists surrendered before the Telangana Police in Hyderabad in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
The group included three State Committee members, one Regional Committee member, ten Divisional Committee members, 46 Area Committee members and 70 party members. They handed over 124 modern weapons.
In May 2026, CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member P. Narahari, a native of Hanamkonda, and his wife M. Danamma, a senior Maoist member from Andhra Pradesh, surrendered before the Telangana Police after more than four decades in the movement.
Narahari had reportedly worked with the organisation's technical network in Bihar and Jharkhand for many years. His surrender further demonstrated that senior Telangana-origin cadres remained part of the wider Maoist organisation even after its territorial presence inside Telangana had collapsed.
On 10 August 2026, senior Maoist leader Kakarala Samatha alias Madhavi surrendered before Telangana DGP C. V. Anand.
Samatha had served as a State Committee member and had responsibilities involving women's issues and intelligence-propaganda activities in urban areas. She had joined the People's War movement in 1985 and subsequently held several organisational positions.
Following her surrender, Telangana Police said only three active underground Telangana-origin cadres remained with Maoist formations outside the state.
In August 2026, Telangana DGP C. V. Anand visited the Karregutta hills in Mulugu, an area that had served as a Maoist stronghold for decades.
The DGP stated that sustained operations involving the Telangana Police, Greyhounds, CoBRA and other security personnel had driven the Maoists out of the area. He declared Telangana CPI (Maoist)-free.
The collapse of the organised Maoist movement does not erase the physical and social legacy of decades of conflict.
- Former forest camps and movement routes can contain abandoned explosives or weapons.
- Communities that experienced violence continue to carry memories of conflict and displacement.
- Former cadres require rehabilitation, livelihood opportunities, legal assistance and social reintegration.
- Tribal communities in former insurgency zones continue to require access to roads, education, healthcare, markets and government services.
- Security agencies continue surveillance to prevent the re-emergence of organised insurgent networks.
Thus, the end of the organised insurgency is better understood as the beginning of a long post-conflict phase rather than the disappearance of every consequence of the movement.
- 1946–1951: Telangana Armed Peasant Struggle against the feudal order of Hyderabad State.
- 1967: Naxalbari uprising in West Bengal begins a new revolutionary communist movement in India.
- Late 1960s–1970s: Revolutionary politics and radical student organisations expand in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- 1970s: Agrarian struggles intensify in North Telangana.
- 1980: Kondapalli Seetharamaiah helps establish CPI (ML) People's War.
- 20 April 1981: Indravelli police firing in Adilabad becomes a major symbol of Adivasi grievance and state violence.
- 1980s–1990s: People's War expands through armed squads, village-level organisations and revolutionary cultural mobilisation.
- 1990s: Counter-insurgency intensifies and specialised police operations expand.
- 2004: People's War and Maoist Communist Centre merge to form CPI (Maoist).
- 2004–2005: Peace talks and ceasefire efforts are followed by renewed conflict.
- 2010s: Maoist territorial influence in Telangana steadily contracts.
- 2014: Telangana becomes a separate state.
- 1 December 2024: Seven Maoists are killed in an encounter in Mulugu district.
- October 2025: Senior Maoist leader Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi surrenders in Gadchiroli with about 60 cadres.
- 22 November 2025: 37 Maoists, including three senior State Committee members, surrender in Telangana.
- 3 January 2026: PLGA Battalion Commander Badse Sukka alias Deva surrenders with 19 other cadres.
- 24 February 2026: Devji and three other senior leaders surrender.
- 7 March 2026: 130 Maoists surrender and hand over 124 weapons.
- May 2026: Central Committee member P. Narahari and senior cadre M. Danamma surrender.
- 10 August 2026: Senior State Committee member Kakarala Samatha surrenders.
- August 2026: Telangana DGP declares the state CPI (Maoist)-free.
- Kondapalli Seetharamaiah: Founder and principal organiser of the CPI (ML) People's War movement established in 1980.
- K. G. Satyamurthy: Important revolutionary communist organiser and early leader of the People's War movement.
- Varavara Rao: Poet, writer and public intellectual associated with revolutionary politics and cultural mobilisation.
- Gaddar: Revolutionary folk singer whose songs and performances became influential in Telangana's cultural and political movements.
- Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Bhupathi: Senior CPI (Maoist) Central Committee and Politburo member and influential strategist who surrendered in October 2025.
- Badse Sukka alias Deva: Senior PLGA commander who surrendered in January 2026.
- Tippiri Tirupati alias Devji: Senior CPI (Maoist) strategist and Politburo/CC member who surrendered in February 2026.
- P. Narahari: Central Committee member and Telangana-origin Maoist who surrendered in May 2026.
- Kakarala Samatha alias Madhavi: Senior State Committee member who surrendered in August 2026.
Warangal: Major centre of radical student politics and later People's War activity.
Karimnagar and Peddapalli: Important areas of agrarian mobilisation and People's War activity.
Adilabad: Major historical centre of tribal mobilisation and site of the 1981 Indravelli police firing.
Mulugu: Forested eastern Telangana region that remained strategically important to Maoist operations into the final phase of the insurgency.
Bhadradri Kothagudem: Historically important forest and border region associated with Maoist activity. By 2026, it was no longer officially classified as an LWE-affected district.
Hyderabad: Important centre of radical student, literary and political activity and the location of several major Maoist surrender ceremonies in 2025–2026.
Karregutta: Former Maoist stronghold in Mulugu that became a symbol of the final collapse of the organised insurgency in Telangana.
Dandakaranya: Major Maoist operational region spanning forest areas of central India, particularly Chhattisgarh and adjoining states.
The history of Naxalism in Telangana passed through several distinct phases. The Telangana Armed Peasant Struggle of 1946–1951 created an important historical tradition of communist-led agrarian mobilisation, while the Naxalbari uprising of 1967 generated a new revolutionary current that spread into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
During the 1970s and 1980s, radical student activism, agrarian struggles, underground organisation and revolutionary cultural mobilisation helped create the conditions for the rise of the People's War Group. The movement later became part of the CPI (Maoist), developing a major insurgent presence across parts of central India.
The conflict came at a high human cost. Maoist violence, assassinations, alleged informer killings, police operations, encounters and broader counter-insurgency measures affected civilians as well as combatants. The Indravelli firing of 1981 remains one of the most powerful symbols of the conflict's contested history.
The decline of the insurgency was gradual. Improved intelligence, specialised forces such as the Greyhounds, leadership losses, declining recruitment, internal divisions, government development programmes and increasingly large-scale surrenders progressively reduced the Maoist presence in Telangana.
The decisive phase came in 2025–2026. Senior leaders including Mallojula Venugopal Rao, Badse Sukka and Tippiri Tirupati surrendered, followed by the surrender of 130 cadres in March 2026 and additional senior leaders later in the year.
In August 2026, Telangana DGP C. V. Anand declared the state CPI (Maoist)-free during a visit to the former Maoist stronghold of Karregutta in Mulugu.
The movement that once operated across large parts of rural Telangana has therefore entered a fundamentally different phase: from armed insurgency to historical memory, rehabilitation and the continuing challenge of ensuring that remote and tribal communities receive the rights, services and opportunities that earlier generations demanded.
- Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India — Left Wing Extremism status and national assessment, 2026.
- Press Information Bureau, Government of India — national LWE statistics, surrender figures and 2026 assessment.
- Telangana State Government — Chief Minister's March 2026 press conference on the surrender of 130 Maoists.
- Telangana Police / DGP C. V. Anand — 2026 surrender and rehabilitation announcements.
- Contemporary reporting by The Indian Express, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Times of India, Hindustan Times, PTI, Akashvani and Telangana Today on 2025–2026 surrenders and counter-insurgency developments.
- South Asia Terrorism Portal — historical and contemporary chronology of Maoist activity.
- Arundhati Roy, Walking with the Comrades, Penguin, 2011.
- Historical studies of the Telangana Armed Peasant Struggle, People's War movement and Naxalite politics in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- Scholarly and archival material concerning the 1981 Indravelli police firing and Adivasi movements in Adilabad.