Midnapore : Maoist leader Kishanji, who has opposed talks with the government, made a sudden turnaround on Feb 22, offering a 72-day ceasefire saying there would be no left-wing violence if the security forces stopped their operations in Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.

''The deadline begins on February 25 (to be observed as martyr's day by the Maoists) and ends on May 7, during which there will be no violence from either side,'' said Kishanji. Incidentally, this is the period when trees would shed leaves in the forest and make it difficult for the Maoists to move around unseen. It ends just a month before the annual date for onset of monsoon in Bengal. It took two days of discussions for the CPI (Maoists) to come to a consensus. ''We are open to talks if mediated by an intellectual supportive of the cause of tribals,'' Kishanji said on Feb 22. Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman, who has been speaking against Opposition Green Hunt all this while, promptly offered himself as the mediator. The Centre reserved its comment on the ceasefire offer till Feb 23.

This time around, there is no demand for the release of four CPI (Maoist) politburo members, including Kobad Ghandy, or other rebel detainees. According to sources, it was Kishanji's line that prevailed in the Maoists central committee meeting. One section, led by Gopinathji, was keen to go for talks immediately, but Kishanji, who is responsible for several brutal killings in Jangalmahal, wanted nothing but war. He came up with the 72-day response to the Centre's 72-hour truce offer. Security agencies fear that the rebels may use this time to rearm and regroup. During the discussions, Kishanji said home minister P Chidambaram ''could not be trusted'' and reminded his comrades of the Andhra Pradesh experience. Former CM N Chandrababu Naidu had taken steps to bring Maoists back to mainstream, but YSR's Congress government ''completely reversed the peace process'', Kishanji is learnt to have said, warning that the party should not fall into the same trap again.