ABSTRACT
Contrary to popular belief, Maoism in Orissa is not a recent phenomenon. For a long time Orissa’s tryst with the ultra-Left extremist movement was merely a spill-over effect from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. However, Orissa does have a long history in the Communist movement, peasant mobilizations and labour unrest. Left-wing extremism or the erstwhile Naxalite movement in Orissa is altogether a different experience, quite different from that of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh or Bihar. The history of Naxalism in Orissa does not have a centre such as Naxalbari (as in West Bengal) or Telangana (as in Andhra Pradesh) to boast about yet Orissa does have a distinct experience in the consolidation of ultra-Left extremism right from the beginning. Led by the maverick Nagbhushan Pattnaik, the echoes of Spring Thunder were felt in different pockets of Orissa as early as 1968. Even his worst critics would agree that if the Naxalite movement got recognition in Orissa it was due to the revolutionary leadership and charismatic personality of Nagbhushan Pattnaik.
