Maoists offer to surrender by February 15 in letter to three CMs

The Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MMC) special zonal committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI (Maoist)] have purportedly written a letter to the Chief Ministers of the three States offering to renounce weapons and accept the government’s rehabilitation programme by February 15, 2026. They have, however, urged the government(s) to halt the security forces’ anti-Maoist operations till the date set by them.

“We, the MMC Special Zonal Committee, also wish to renounce the weapon and accept the government’s rehabilitation and Poonamargam scheme. However, we request the governments of all three states to give us time. Since our party adheres to the principles of democratic centralism, it will take some time for us to collectively reach this decision,” says the letter addressed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai and Home Minister Vijay Sharma and Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav.

In the letter issued in the name of MMC zone spokesperson Anant and dated November 22, the Maoists have offered to pause their activities as well.

“We understand this time is a bit long, but it is within the government’s deadline for eliminating Maoism (March 31, 2026). Until then, we urge the governments of the three states to exercise some restraint and halt their security forces’ operations,” it adds.

It states that they [the government] should not even conduct any operations during the upcoming PLGA week [associated with the formation day of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) or the military wing of the CPI (Maoist)].

“Also, stop the activities of informants and do not engage forces based on inputs or information. We also assure you that we will not celebrate PLGA Week this time and will pause all our activities,” the letter reads.

The letter mentions the surrenders of Maoist Central Committee Member Pulluri Prasad Rao alias Shankaranna alias Chandranna in Hyderabad on October 28 and that of top Maoist leader Bhupati alias Sonu in Maharashtra’s Gadhchiroli on October 15, noting that their decision (s) to “temporarily cease the armed struggle “ was taken after “assessing the changing circumstances in the country and the world”.

The MMC has purportedly requested the government to play its contents on the radio for the next few days so that this message can reach their colleagues as soon as possible. Besides asking surrendered ex Maoist leaders to convey their concerns to the government, the MMC Maoists have also written that that they request public representatives, journalists, and YouTube journalists to mediate between the government and then and to talk to the government to consider their appeal.

“We hope that the governments of the three states give us an opportunity to meet with some public representatives and journalists in the meantime, so that we can quickly announce a specific date for collectively renouncing weapons and accepting the government’s rehabilitation plan,” the letter states.

Need for concrete proposal

Reacting to the letter, Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Vijay Sharma said that the Maoist need to make a concrete offer and also questioned the deadline mentioned in the letter. “I have seen the letter and also listened to the audio [that has purportedly surfaced alongside the letter]. On this subject I want to say that they say about February 15. It does not take this long, and nobody has so much time. They should submit a concrete proposal.” he said.

He added that the government was willing to co-operate if a concrete proposal was received. “If they want their comrades to take a specific path, we will clear that area. If they want to gather in a specific area we will clear that but they should give a concrete proposal and for anything, a timeline of 10 to 15 days is sufficient,” he said.