Tippiri Tirupathi alias Debuji, a senior Maoist leader, who hails from Korutla town of Jagtial district, known as an expert in guerrilla warfare in the Dandakaranya forest region, is likely to take over the reins of the outlawed CPI (Maoist).

Tirupathi, a Dalit, is expected to succeed the slain Maoist leader Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavraju as the general secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist) going by the reports coming from Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar region, a hotbed of Maoist activity.

The CPI (Maoist) Central Committee has reportedly finalised Tirupathi as the successor of the top Maoist leader Namabala Keshav Rao, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh on May 21, 2025.

Tirupathi will become the second Maoist leader from the erstwhile Karimnagar district to assume charge as the CPI (Maoist) general secretary, if the reports originating from the Maoist stronghold in Chhattisgarh are any indication.

Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi, a native of Beerpur in Jagtial district, the first general secretary of the CPI (Maoist), reportedly stepped down due to old age in November 2018, sources said.

Tirupathi, a native of Ambedkarnagar in Korutla, was closely associated with the Radical Students’ Union (RSU) during his college days before joining the CPI (ML) People’s War Group in 1985, sources added.

Tirupathi has long been operating in the Dandakaranya forest area, spanning the Bastar region. Like his immediate predecessor, he led the banned outfit’s Central Military Commission.

He held key positions in the outlawed organisation over the past four decades.