Cong doors open for ex-Maoists: TPCC chief

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Tuesday said that the Congress would welcome surrendered Maoists if they choose to join the party.

Speaking during an informal interaction with media personnel at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday, Goud said the Maoists had worked for decades for the ideology they believed in and described their decision to lay down arms and enter mainstream politics as a positive development.

“The surrendered Maoists have been in the movement for many years. It is good that they have now given up arms and entered politics. We welcome them if they want to join our party and serve the people. Congress is the best platform to serve the people,” he said.

Goud reiterated that the Congress had opposed Operation Kagar from the beginning. He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not initiating talks with Maoists while agreeing to hold discussions with Pakistan.

“We may have differences of opinion with their (Maoists) ideology, but we respect those who fought for the people. Whether Maoists or Congress leaders, we have fought for the poor,” he said.

Clarifying his remarks, Goud added that the party has not reached out to any former Maoists so far. “If the surrendered Maoists come to the Congress party, we will invite them. As of now, we have not asked anyone,” he said.

It may be recalled that former Maoists met Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy at the Secretariat on February 27. They had also planned to meet Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Vikarabad on March 2, but the proposed meeting was cancelled at the last minute due to various reasons, it is learnt.

On February 27, the Chief Minister held a face-to-face interaction with recently surrendered top leaders of the proscribed CPI (Maoist) at their request. He congratulated them for joining the mainstream after spending several years in the forests and emphasised that violence cannot provide a lasting solution, and that public aspirations can be addressed only through democratic means.

Revanth Reddy also assured the surrendered leaders and cadres of adequate security and rehabilitation benefits, stating that the government would extend all necessary support to help them reintegrate into society and lead lives of dignity.

However, it is learnt that the former Maoists also informed the Chief Minister of their intention to join the mainstream political process to serve the people, and urged him to persuade the Centre to allow them to participate in politics without any hurdles.