Famous Folk Artist Vangapandu Prasad Passes Away

The famous folk artist of the north Andhra region Vangapandu Prasada Rao, popularly known as Vangapandu, passed away of a heart attack this morning at his residence in Parvathipuram of Vizianagaram district.

He had been suffering from ill health for some time.

Vangapandu was born in June 1943 to Jagannatham and Chinna Talli. He was one of the six siblings in the family, and the eldest of all of them. He got a job as a fitter in the Vizag shipyard. However he took VRS and became a full-time civil rights activist. He soon came to be known as "Andhra Gaddar".

The death of the artist brought tears to the eyes of his followers. It also attracted condolences from the high and mighty. AP CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao and CPI leaders Chada Venkat Reddy, Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, Aziz Pasha and K Sambasiva Rao were among those who mourned his demise.