The leadership crisis in the banned CPI (Maoists) is not only hit by encounters and arrests but also by sickness.
It is understood that in 2007 there were about 40 Central Committee Members and 14 Politburo members, and it has come down to about 20 and seven. A few were killed; some captured and others are sick, said a senior officer from SIB, Andhra Pradesh.
The death of Kudumula Venkat Ramana alias Ravi, an active member of the Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) and chief of the party’s Central Regional Committee (CRC), due to jaundice in a hospital in Visakhapatnam, brings forward the sickness issue that has been a cause of worry for the Maoist leadership.
According to Superintendent of Police Koya Praveen, it is not only Ravi who was sick, but also politburo member Akkiraju Haragopal alias Ramakrishna or RK is learnt to be severely sick. He is reportedly down with severe diabetes and cervical spondylosis.
This apart, the other tribal leader in the AOB area Bakuri Venkat Ramana alias Ganesh, is reported to have a failing eyesight.
Ganesh suffered some eye injuries in a skirmish with a police party near Balapam a couple of years ago. And since then his eyesight has been failing him, said the SP. The reports of other senior leaders who are suffering from various ailments such as diabetes and kidney disorders are Uday and Peda Mahendra.
Many of the women in senior cadres are also suffering from gynaecological problems.
