‘Maoists too weak now to fight back’
   Date :04-Feb-2025

Tarakka
Tarakka (in front) and her close aide Kalpana keep smiling when they wish to avoid direct answer to probing questions.
 
By Kartik Lokhande :
 
Surrendered Maoist leader Tarakka, who is wife of top Maoist leader Bhupathi alias Sonu Dada, and her aide Kalpana say that the Red terrorists are losing popular support because of Government’s two-pronged strategy of development and security 
 
IF SOMEONE crosses her in the market, she may come across as an ageing woman with an ever-smiling face. Ask her to write which year she was married, she asks for a pen and then carefully draws two circles one upon another to first write ‘8’ and then writes ‘7’ next to indicate 1987. An ordinary person cannot suspect that till January 1, 2025, she was a Member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of the banned Left-wing organisation CPI (Maoist). Vimala Sendra Sidam (53), a resident of Kishtapur in Aheri tehsil of Gadchiroli district, joined the erstwhile People’s War (PW) group of Naxalites in 1986 at the age of only 15 years. However, in the next 38 years with the PW and later with CPI (Maoist), she rose to the stature of DKSZC Member. Though illiterate, her ‘actions’ earned ‘Tarakka’ a status of a dreaded Naxalite/Maoist leader. Before surrender, she worked as DKSZC Member and also as In-charge of Medical Team of the Maoists. She surrendered before Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra, on January 1, 2025.
 
arakka surrendered along with Madni alias Kalpana, and nine others. Maharashtra Government had declared reward of Rs 1.03 lakh on these 11 Left Wing Extremists. On the last day of January, ‘The Hitavada’ travelled to Gadchiroli to interact with her. Her revelations tell the story of how the Government and the police force are gaining success in eliminating Maoism from the country. Tarakka is not alone in saying so. Her close aide Madni Ganpati Turrem (55), also a resident of Kishtapur, agrees. Madni’s agreement also matters. Before her surrender, Madni alias ‘Kalpana’ was a Divisional Committee Member of Maoists for the notorious ‘Maad’ (Abujhmaad) division. Also known with an alias ‘Bharati’, she has total 16 crimes registered against her including nine encounters, two arson cases, and five others, as per the police records. She worked as a ‘doctor’ in Kutul local organising squad of the Maoists. “New police camps are coming up in Maharashtra as well as adjoining Chhattisgarh. Area domination by police has increased. Several Maoist leaders have been killed. Besides, the Government has changed its approach.
 
It has been pushing for development in the remote and tribal areas of the country. The overall impact is that the Maoist party is facing massive setbacks, and losing popular support,” Tarakka told ‘The Hitavada’. She is better versed with Telugu than Hindi. She speaks in Hindi in broken or incomplete sentences. But, she understands Hindi very well. Questioned if Maoists are resorting to their usual deceptive game of ‘retreat when weak, regroup and bounce back when security forces are relaxed’, Tarakka replies, “Maoists are too weak now to fight back. Conditions presently are not like those in the old days.” Kalpana nods in agreement, and adds in fluent Hindi, “Abhi ‘Janata’ bhi saath nahi hain (now, people also are not with the Maoists)...” According to her, when Chhattisgarh saw the rise of ‘Salwa Judum’, CPI (Maoist) got several recruits because of excesses at local level by those associated with ‘Salwa Judum’. But, since the end of ‘Salwa Judum’, recruitment in Chhattisgarh has stopped. Now, people do not support the Maoist party. To a question regarding the youngsters joining the Left Wing Extremists from urban areas of Maharashtra, Kalpana replies, “They are afraid of joining now. Besides, none of the youths today wants a life full of hardships, roaming in jungles, living under the shadow of fear of encounter with security forces.” Tarakka maintains a smile but keeps silent. Asked if she was doing this as ‘a measured response’ to questions, Tarakka says, “Nahi bhaiyya... But, I feel that Maoism as an ideology may not end. Despite the Government’s big push to development, the issues of unemployment, developmental inequalities may keep the (Maoist) party alive.” One suspects if this reflects how deeply she was (and, maybe is) attached to the Left Wing Extremism ideology. The impact of Naxalite/Maoist ideology on her is obvious. For, in her long career as an armed extremist, she worked with the topmost Maoist leader Ganapathy as well as present head Basavraj, and ‘Janaki Didi’ (late Anuradha Ghandy). According to police records, total of 66 crimes have been registered against her, including 35 encounters, seven arson cases etc. One should not forget that she is the wife of Sonu Dada, who is the Central Regional Bureau chief of CPI (Maoist). Tarakka also saw the birth of Tippagarh, Deori, Bhamragarh, Gatta, Sironcha dalams of erstwhile Naxalites. And, she was mentor to now surrendered Naxalite/Maoist leaders Raghu and Giridhar, and Bhaskar (who was killed in an encounter).
 
In her own admission, her ‘team’ was involved in the killing of Bahadurshah Alam, the then Chairman of Bhamragarh Panchayat Samiti in 2012, and also policeman Pandu Alam. Also known by another alias ‘Vachchala’, a seasoned Tarakka pleads ignorance about the identity of cadres from urban areas coming to meet Sonu Dada. “Some did come and meet him, but I was not aware of their names,” she adds, with a broad grin. Now that she has surrendered, will her husband follow suit? To this question, Tarakka answers, “We had together made a conscious decision not to have a child. I decided to surrender because of bad health and increasing police pressure. But, as far as surrender is concerned, I do not know what is in his mind since I did not consult Sonu about my decision to surrender.” When Tarakka and Kalpana surrendered, Gadchiroli Police welcomed them to the mainstream by presenting to them copies of the Constitution of India. Asked why the Maoists were opposed to the Constitutional values and democracy and hoisted black flags on the Independence Day as well as the Republic Day, Tarakka replies that their opposition is rooted in the notion that India gained ‘false independence’ in 1947. Then, how committed could someone be to the Constitution after having opposed the Constitutional values for years? Reply this time comes from Kalpana, “When we were in the (Maoist) party, we followed its rules and principles. Now, we have surrendered. So, we follow the Constitution.” On this note, the conversation ends. Tarakka and Kalpana continue wearing smiles on their faces with hope of a better life sparkling in their eyes.
 
Tarakka stayed in Nagpur for 6 months!
 
For decades now, Nagpur and Chandrapur are known to be hubs of transit for Naxalites/Maoists and also centres where their sympathisers operate under different cover. Tarakka, too, had taken advantage of this network several years ago. In fact, by her own admission, she had stayed in Nagpur for six months. “I had suffered from Appendicitis when Sonu and I were living in jungles. As my health deteriorated, my Appendix had to be removed. So, I came out of the jungles, came to Nagpur where my Appendix was removed after a surgery. I stayed in Nagpur for six months to recover,” Tarakka told ‘The Hitavada’. According to her, this happened after 1987. In her own admission, ‘the party’ took care of her treatment, stay, and day-to-day expenses in Nagpur. As she recalls, one Bhumanna of Kamlapur Dalam had accompanied her to Nagpur. Now, she says, Bhumanna is long dead. Her admission sheds light on how old the network of Naxalites/Maoists in Nagpur is. This also lends credibility to the Government’s statements about urban presence of the Left Wing Extremists.