Born in a Dalit family in 1949 at Tooparan in Medak district, Gadar actively participated in the Telangana movement in 1969–70 and lent his voice to several songs in support of the movement. He became popular as the ‘singer of the masses’ with his revolutionary songs.
क्रांतिकारी गीतकार और लोकगायक ‘गदर’ का निधन
Former Maoist ideologue and revolutionary lyricist and folk singer Gadar passed away today after a brief illness at a private hospital in Hyderabad, where he was admitted 10 days ago following a heart attack. He was 74 years old. He is survived by wife Vimala and a son and a daughter. His second son Chandrudu died in 2003.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has expressed grief over Gadar’s demise. Sharing a photo of himself with Gadar, he tweeted, “Saddened to hear about the passing away of Shri Gummadi Vitthal Rao, the iconic poet, lyricist and revolutionary activist of Telangana. His love for the people of Telangana made him the most dedicated to the marginalised. He inspired us to fight tirelessly for the cause. His legacy will continue to inspire us all.”
Born in 1949 in a Dalit family at Tooparan in Medak district, Gadar’s original name was Gummadi Vitthal Rao, but he became popular by his stage name Gadar. He was a revolutionary singer and sympathizer of Naxalism since the days of Osmania University Engineering College. He actively participated in the Telangana movement in 1969–70 and lent his voice to several songs in support of the movement.
He became popular as the ‘singer of the masses’ with his revolutionary songs highlighting the problems of the people. He also acted in the Telugu films ‘Maa Bhoomi’ and ‘Rangula Kala’. In ‘Maa Bhoomi’ he sang ‘Bandenka Bandi Katti’, which became a popular song. He went underground in the 1980s and founded Jana Natya Mandali, a traveling theater group. Known for his soulful, melodious folk songs with simple lyrics, Gadar attracted people, especially the youth, to the Maoist ideology. This group later became the People’s War, the cultural wing of the CPI (ML), which in 2004 merged with the Maoist Communist Center (MCC) to form the CPM.
There was also an attempt to assassinate Gadar in 1997, when unidentified men fired at him at his residence on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Though he survived the attack, the bullet remained lodged in his spinal cord, which is still there. He blamed the police and the then Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government for the assassination attempt.
In the first direct talks between the then Andhra Pradesh government and the People’s War in 2004, Gadar had acted as the Maoist emissary, along with revolutionary writers and poets Varavara Rao and Kalyan Rao. During his tenure with the Maoist party, Gaddar campaigned vigorously against electoral politics and called for a boycott of elections.
But in 2017, he left Maoism and declared himself as an ‘Ambedkarite’. Gadar enrolled himself as a voter later that year and cast his vote in 2018 for the first time in his life. There was speculation that he would join the Congress. His son G.V. Surya Kiran had joined Congress in 2018. Gadar also campaigned for the party in some constituencies, but did not contest the elections.
In October last year, Ghadar preacher K.A. Paul joined the Praja Shanti Party (PSP) and decided to campaign for the party in the Munugode assembly by-election. However, in June this year, Gadar announced that he was forming the Gadar Praja Party. He also submitted an application to the Election Commission of India for the registration of the party.
Gadar had told media persons that it would be a party of the people. He said that since the right to life itself is under threat, our party will fight to protect this basic right guaranteed by the Constitution of India. He had also announced that he would contest the elections, but had said that the constituency would be decided by the party. “When I was fighting as an individual, I had said that I will contest against (Telangana Chief Minister) KCR, but now there is a party and it will decide the constituency,” he said.
Her last public appearance was in Khammam on 2 July, when she hugged Rahul Gandhi at a huge Congress public meeting. Gadar’s presence on stage was surprising. After shaking hands with Rahul Gandhi, Gadar hugged him and even kissed the Congress leader’s cheeks amid loud applause from the audience. Rahul Gandhi also invited Gadar to sit next to him as a mark of respect.
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