HYDERABAD: In a significant development, balladeer Gaddar, who had earlier supported Maoist ideology and opposed the Indian Constitution, has now decided to take part in electoral process “to serve the people.”
Gaddar, who till recently organised programmes against the state government under the aegis of Telangana Mass and Social Organisations Forum (T-MAS), on Sunday announced that he wanted to contest the ensuing General elections in order to get power.
During a meeting organised on the issue ‘Need for electoral reforms and Bahujan’s rule in Telangana,’ by CPM-led Bahujan Left Front (BLF), formed with smaller parties, Gaddar expressed his wish to contest the ensuing elections. “I want to assume power to serve people. So far, I haven’t enrolled myself as a voter. Now, I will do it immediately for the sake of electoral rights,” the one-time Maoist sympathiser said.
Gaddar called for the unity of all Left Parties in the country. “Laal and Neel can together bring in a change in the country. There is a need to establish new government in the country with the help of Left forces, Dalits and Adivasis,” he remarked.
Interestingly, Gaddar’s son Surya Kiran had a few days ago joined Congress in the presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.
Earlier in the meeting, CPM state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram extended an open invite to Gaddar asking the balladeer to join the Marxist party. “Our party will field Gaddar in the ensuing polls as its candidate and send him to lawmaking bodies,” Veerabhadram announced.
Yechury on EVMs
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said his party would strive hard to defeat the BJP-led NDA in elections by uniting all the secular and democratic forces. He alleged that all Electronic Voting Machines in the country were being programmed to transfer every vote to BJP-led NDA.