Telangana: Renowned Folk Singer Gaddar Passes Away
Hyderabad: Popular Telangana folk singer Gaddar passed away on Sunday. He was 77. Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as Gaddar, breathed his last while undergoing treatment for lung and urinary problems at Apollo Spectra Hospital here.
Long before shunning Maoist ideology and embracing Ambedkarism in 2017, Gaddar founded Jana Natya Mandali, travelling theatre group. The people, especially youth, got attracted towards Maoist ideology after listening to his revolutionary songs.
Gaddar was shot at by some unidentified men at his residence on the outskirts of Hyderabad in 1997. The folk singer had blamed police and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government for the assassination attempt. He also acted as an emissary for the Maoists during the first-ever direct talks between then Andhra Pradesh government and People's War in 2004.
Last year, Gaddar had joined evangelist KA Paul-led Praja Shanti Party (PSP). However, he changed his mind and months before the Telangana Assembly elections, the revolutionary balladeer Gaddar announced his plans for floating a new party namely Gaddar Praja Party. Last June, he even submitted an application with the Election Commission of India in New Delhi for the registration of the party.
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