Folk singer Gaddar passes away at 74

Revolutionary folk singer Gaddar is no more. He was 74.

Gaddar, who was popular by his stage name rather than his actual name of Gummadi Vittal Rao, was undergoing treatment at a prominent hospital in Hyderabad, where he was admitted 10 days ago after suffering a cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife Vimala and a son and a daughter. One of his sons passed away in 2003.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who condoled his demise, announced that his final rites would be held with State honours.

Born in a Dalit family at Toopran in Medak in 1949, Gaddar went underground in the 1980s and became a member of the CPI-ML (People’s War). He was the founder of the Jana Natya Mandali, which went on to become the naxalite outfit’s cultural wing. Gaddar rose to be known as the people’s singer, highlighting people’s issues in his songs. He also acted in a few movies, including Maa Bhoomi and Rangula Kala.

During the direct talks held for the first time between the then government and the People’s War in 2004, it was Gaddar, along with revolutionary writers Varavara Rao and Kalyan Rao, who acted as emissaries for the PW. Gaddar, who while being a Maoist supporter, had campaigned against electoral politics and believed voting was a futile exercise.

In 2017, he announced he had severed all ties with the Maoists and declared himself an ‘Ambedkarite’, and in the 2018 Assembly elections, voted for the first time in his



life.

Gaddar, who had supported the Telangana agitation in his early days, also supported the separate Statehood after its resurgence. In June this year, he announced the launch of a new political party, which he called the Gaddar Praja Party, and said he would contest the forthcoming elections.

He was associated briefly with evangelist KA Paul’s Praja Shanthi Party during the Munugode bypoll. His last public appearance was on July 2 in Khammam, when he hugged Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting of the Congress. Last week, he was seen with Jana Sena party founder Pavan Kalyan.

In 1997, he was shot at by unknown assailants and though he survived the attack, still had a bullet lodged in his spinal cord.

Soon after news of his demise came out, social media was flooded with his pictures and songs from people who liked his style. Most were pictures of Gaddar from his early days, clad in his trademark dhoti, red shawl and wooden staff. He had returned to his traditional attire last year.

Condolences poured in from multiple quarters, including the Telangana State Assembly where Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy condoled Gaddar’s demise. IT Minister KT Rama Rao, expressing his condolences, said Gaddar had inspired crores of people with his voice. As a poet and singer, Gaddar won the admiration of millions of people with his performances and songs and made people conscious, he said. Finance Minister T Harish Rao and others also expressed their grief.