VISAKHAPATNAM: Friends, relatives and admirers turned up in large numbers Sunday to pay their last respects to noted revolutionary writer Chalasani Prasad who passed away following a cardiac arrest in Vizag Saturday. A procession was taken out from his residence in HB Colony to AMC. The body was donated to the AMC for clinical study, as per the late writer’s wishes. Earlier, his eyes were donated to Mohsin Eye Bank.
Since Saturday afternoon, friends and admirers of the founder-member of Revolutionary Writers Association (Viplava Rachaithala Sangham) started pouring in at his residence from across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Many stayed back in the night and more people arrived Sunday morning. Among the visitors were prominent writers, poets, rights activists and politicians including Virasam leader Varavara Rao, writers Kalipatnam Ramarao, rights activists Prof Haragopal and N Venugopal, revolutionary singer Vangapandu Prasad, CPM leader Ch Narsinga Rao, CPI leader JV Satyanarayana Murthy, Vizag MP K Haribabu and several others.
During a condolence meeting organised at his residence, several people recalled their association with Chalasani who was a Marxist throughout his life, and remembered him as a multifaceted personality. Varavara Rao said that it would be hard to imagine Virasam without Prasad and recalled different movements that they had taken part together. Vangapandu Prasad sang a song lauding the services of Prasad to the literary world.
The streets of Vizag from his residence in HB Colony to the AMC at Maharanipet, reverberated with Red slogans paying homage to Prasad. Anticipating the presence of the Maoist leaders, the police personnel in mufti were deployed to watch everyone attending the last journey of Prasad.