New Delhi, April 14: Maoists have stepped up efforts to mobilise support in the industrial towns of western Maharashtra and Gujarat, uncharted territory for the rebels who have so far largely tapped into rural discontent.

The issue is likely to be discussed with chief ministers of nine most-affected states on Monday during a special session on the Maoists.

The session will be part of the larger two-day meeting with all chief ministers on internal security. Union home minister P. Chidambaram will inaugurate the event.

Maharashtra’s east, especially Gadchiroli which borders rebel-infested Chhattisgarh and where 13 CRPF jawans were killed last month, has long been known as a rebel den.

But the CPI (Maoist) top brass is now eyeing Pune and Nashik, besides Ahmedabad. The industrial centres are home to large numbers of migrant labourers from Odisha, Bengal and Bihar where the guerrillas have been organising the poor, tribals and the underprivileged for years.

A centrepiece of the expansion plan is the golden corridor committee (GCC), a cell of the CPI (Maoist) dedicated to expanding the base in the towns. The stretch from western Maharashtra to Gujarat is often called the “golden corridor” because of the concentration of industries.

“The zone (the golden corridor) covers cities like Pune, Nashik and Ahmedabad where the Naxalites are trying to mobilise unorganised sector labourers,” said a Maharashtra police source. Several Maoist leaders have been arrested in the past few years from these cities, he added.

The importance of the GCC can be gauged from the fact that it works directly under the of the CPI (Maoist’s) central committee, the outfit’s second-most powerful body which handles only projects or activities considered “central” to rebels’ plans.

In Gujarat, the Maoists are said to have set their sights on disaffection resulting from alleged “forcible” land acquisitions for industry by the Narendra Modi government in some pockets. The rebels see in the groundswell an opportunity to step in and mobilise support, sources said.

In Maharashtra, a spate of arrests and alleged rebel support to a statehood movement have sent alarm bells ringing in the home ministry. Angela Sontakke, allegedly a key official of the GCC, was arrested from Thane last April. She is the wife of Milind Teltumbe a member of the Maharashtra state committee of the CPI (Maoist).

The likes of Khobad Ghandy have also stoked worry. The Doon School alumnus, in his sixties and in Tihar jail, hails from an affluent family in Mumbai and studied at a prominent city college before he joined the Maoists and became one of their key strategists.

Last month, a Delhi court struck down the terror charge under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against Ghandy on technical grounds but restored it after the prosecution and the police rectified the defect. Ghandy’s case is being seen by many as an example of how Maoists could garner support, resources and shelter in a city like Mumbai.

The Maoists have set up a “western Maharashtra area committee” and it has been active for over a year, focusing on Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and other towns.

The rebels have also formed the Vidarbha divisional committee to press for a separate Vidarbha state. This, too, has raised the hackles of the home ministry, which believes it could fan statehood embers at a time the Telangana tangle has not been resolved.