Few people would have taken notice of the announcement on Thursday by Vangapandu Prasada Rao in Visakhapatnam about his new Vangapandu-Prajadandu party. That was because everyone knew that it would be a non-starter; that he has neither the understanding nor the resources to run any outfit, let alone a political party in these times.

The comments may seem uncharitable, given that Vangapandu, the revolutionary bard, played a key role in People’s War Group in the early 70s through his memorable lyrics, written, composed and sung by him. He in fact was a co-founder of Jana Natya Mandali along with Gaddar.

Few people familiar with communist struggle in those days were not swayed by his galvanizing poetry which includes Em pilloi yeldamosthava, Jajjenaka janare, Nampally station Kada and Yentrametta nadusthuvundante.

But the popular lyricist somewhere along with way lost his touch with reality and the developments had probably overtaken him. While Gaddar was able to build and sustain a brand for himself by keeping pace with the changes around him, Vangapandu ended up as being a poor shadow of his former self.
His frequent flip-flops – singing paeans to the late YSR, extending support to TDP in between – have further cheapened his personality. His poor financial position also led him to share several platforms with dubious people and outfits frequently.
One can only feel sorry for a man of his creative stature still retaining child-like qualities for having come to this pass. The continue backwardness of the region – north coastal Andhra – also seems to have contributed in pushing him to the current ignominy.