Kobad Ghandy

Who is Kobad Ghandy?

Kobad Ghandy is an Indian communist and Maoist leader. He is a member of the banned Communist Party of India. Maoists are also referred as "Naxalites" in the media. He was assigned the task of spreading Maoist influence in urban areas and running its propaganda wing.

The 63-year-old was in charge of the South Western Regional Bureau coordinating the naxalite activity in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, where their activity remained stagnant despite herculean efforts made by the Maoist party. Taking into consideration his ability to analyse the national and international developments, he was also entrusted with the job of building up the naxal movement in urban areas.

Ghandy has admitted that despite the rapid spread of the naxalite movement in Central and North India, it failed to strike roots in other states. Even in Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, the party failed to win over people in plain areas and in towns, while the movement was getting strengthened in tribal belts. With the Maoist party realising that it was consistently failing in garnering support from the middle class and the intellectual sections of society, it had asked Ghandy to devise strategies and identify issues that could win over these two sections. For this purpose, Maoists had formed a Sub-Committee on Mass Organisations and Ghandy was heading it.