Maoists formulating programme to extend base to urban areas

"Either in terms of social, economic and cultural ties or in terms of movement relations, villages and cities are not two unconnected islands as such. They both influence each other.

This is creating a strong base for our extension. So it is ridiculous and unreal to say that we would never be able to extend to urban areas," the party's general secretary Muppala Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapathy said in response to a questionnaire.

"Among the areas where we have become weaker, there are some plain areas and some urban areas. We have gained many experiences in urban areas. We have studied the changes in the economic and political conditions of our country and the world and had formulated a programme accordingly," he replied so to a query on the Maoists influence in the urban areas.

The Maoist chief, who hails from Karimnagar district, agreed that at present they were not able to mobilize workers, students and intellectuals as in the 1970s and 1980s.

"There have been some considerable changes in those conditions. It has become very complex to work in areas where the enemy is strong and in the trade union movement where the revisionists have entrenched themselves," he said.