The metamorphosis of a revolutionary
Suresh Dharur
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, July 27
From fighting for ‘power through barrel of gun’ to realising the power of the ballot, the former Maoist ideologue and popular revolutionary balladeer Gaddar has come a long way.
Known for his folk songs laced with revolutionary message and ideological affiliation with Maoists, 69-year old Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as Gaddar, has now turned a new leaf by affirming his faith in the electoral politics. After campaigning for decades against the system of Parliamentary democracy, Gaddar enrolled himself a voter at his native village Toopran in Medak district of Telangana, about 70 km from Hyderabad. He submitted an application to the local revenue authorities.
“Yes, I am going to exercise my franchise in my native village in the next general elections. I have applied for my voting right for the first time in my life,” Gaddar said. This marks an ideological metamorphosis for the former bank clerk who had quit his job to join the Naxalite movement more than four decades ago. He was a popular voice of the revolutionary ideology and an active member of a cultural front organisation of the erstwhile People War Group (PWG) for several years.
During his stint with the Maoist party, Gaddar strongly campaigned against electoral politics and called for boycott of elections. He severed his ties with the Maoists in April last year.
At the peak of the Telangana agitation, Gaddar had floated “Telangana Praja Front” in October 2010 to fight for the statehood cause, mainly drawing support from organisations representing dalits and weaker sections, poets, writers, artistes in the region.
A couple of days ago, he told a meeting of the Bahujan Left Front, a conglomeration of Left-oriented parties headed by CPI (M), that he was planning to contest the next Assembly elections to “gain power to serve people”.
