Even the opponents of Vangaveeti Ranga admit that as an individual, he is a very nice person ever willing to help those in need irrespective of their political affiliations but a failure as a politician.
If NTR is a god to the Kammas and YSR to the Reddys, then Vangaveeti Ranga occupies the same place in the hearts of the Kapus ahead of Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan.
Therefore, when his son Radhakrishna made his foray into politics, it was greeted with much jubilation by his community.
However, Radha has found the going tough and even changed Party multiple times. But his biggest blunder was when he joined the TDP.
That might still be accounted for had it not been for the fact that he said, “It wasn’t the TDP which killed my father. It was some individuals.”
This statement sent shockwaves across the Vangaveeti fan world and turned out to be the biggest blow to his career.
People familiar with the politics during Ranga’s time are aware that the Vangaveeti versus Devineni gang war was a casteist war shielded behind political parties.
Both Ranga and Nehru used caste for their political growth. Ranga supported by the Kapus was in Congress whereas the Devineni group backed by the Kammas was in TDP.
The TDP which was in power at that time managed to kill Ranga. Even a school child knows this. Therefore, when Radha made the above remarks, Vangaveeti supporters were heartbroken.
The Kapus still have the utmost respect for Radha because he is Ranga’s son but they might not associate with him politically.
Against this backdrop, Radha saying recently that Kapus could not save Ranga but they at least need to protect the leaders they have now seems to be an attempt to reconcile with his community through the medium of Pawan Kalyan.
The big question is: Will his community and Vangaveeti fans forget and forgive? Time only will tell!