The announcement made by erstwhile Maoist ideologue and revolutionary balladeer Gaddar on Wednesday that he was joining the Praja Shanti Party floated by maverick evangelist K A Paul sprang a surprise in the media circles.
Media did not attach much importance to this development on Wednesday because it was a holiday on Wednesday on the occasion of Dasara and the electronic media was busy covering the news of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao converting his Telangana Rashtra Samithi into Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
But it has become news for all the media houses on Thursday, as Gaddar announced that he would be contesting the by-election to Munugode assembly seat on behalf of Praja Shanti to protect the Constitution of India and work for the global peace.
Gaddar also declared that he would launch a do-to-door campaign from Thursday onwards to seek blessings of the Munugode constituency people.
This is for the time that Gaddar has joined the political mainstream by becoming a member of a political party. This will be the first electoral battle for him, after giving up the Maoist ideology.
But what is surprising is why Gaddar has chosen a non-serious party like Praja Shanti Party headed by a non-credible leader like K A Paul, who has never won a single seat in any election.
In fact, Gaddar got an invitation from the Congress party, when he met Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka a few days ago.
Bhatti asked him to join the Congress, as his son Suryam was already in the party.
Gaddar also assured that he would join the Bharat Jodo Yatra being undertaken by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, when he entered Telangana. But he suddenly chose to join Paul’s party.
Interestingly, he had also met the TRS leaders in the past and appreciated the state government’s decision to rename Secretariat after Ambedkar.
At the same, he also attended the public meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union home minister Amit Shah in September.
There were reports that Gaddar had asked for monetary help from these parties, but no party could give him any such assurance.
Perhaps, Paul might have given him some funds that was the reason why he chose to contest the Munugode by-poll, sources said.