Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga

Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao (known as Ranga; 4 July 1948 – 26 December 1988) was an Indian National Congress politician in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.[1] He worked as an MLA of Vijayawada East (Assembly constituency) legislative assembly.

Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao
Born	Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao 4 July 1947 Katuru, Vuyyuru, Krishna district
Died	26 December 1988(1988-12-26) (aged 41) Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
Cause of death	Murder
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Ranga
Occupation	Politician
Title	Member of the Legislative Assembly
Term	1985 – 1988
Predecessor	Adusumilli Jaiprakash Rao
Successor	Vangaveeti Raghu
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Ratnakumari
Children	Vangaveeti Radha Krishna Rao Jr.
Relatives	Koteswara Rao (brother) Venkata Narayana Rao (brother) Sobhana Chalapathi Rao (brother) Radha Krishna Rao Sr. (brother)

Ranga's elder brother, Vangaveeti Radha Krishna Rao Sr., was associated with Chalasani Venkata Rathnam, secretary of the Communist Party of India, Vijayawada.[2] However, conflicts arose between Venkata Rathnam and Vangaveeti Radha, to get a hold on Vijayawada transport business, dominated by Datti Kanaka Rao, a follower of Chalasani Venkata Rathnam. [2] In 1972, both Kanaka Rao, and Venkata Rathnam were allegedly murdered by Vangaveeti Radha's supporters. These events in turn led to a retaliation by a rival group, ending in the murder of Vangaveeti Radha.[3][4] Upon the death of Vangaveeti Radha, his brother Mohana Ranga took over the leadership of United independent Organization with the support of student union leaders Devineni Chandrasekhar (Gandhi), and Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru).[5]

The power struggle between the politically powerful Mohana Ranga and the Devineni family led to the splitting of the United Independent Organization and to the alleged protracted murders of brothers Devineni Chandrasekhar (Gandhi) in 1979 and Devineni Murali in 1988, by Mohana Ranga.[1][5] Subsequently, while Ranga was staging an indefinite fast for distribution of land pattas, to residents of Giripuram, when he was attacked by a group of men allegedly led by Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru), attacked Mohana Ranga's camp and assassinated him in the early hours of 26 December 1988. Ranga's two assigned bodyguards did not intervene.[6][7] The murder led to large-scale riots in Krishna, Guntur and the Godavari districts.

Personal life

Mohana Ranga was born in Katuru near Vuyyuru, located in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on 4 July 1947. He had four elder brothers: Vangaveeti Koteswara Rao, Vangaveeti Venkata Narayana Rao, Vangaveeti Sobhana Chalapathi Rao, and Vangaveeti Radha Krishna Rao Sr. who was murdered in 1974. Mohana Ranga was married to Chennupati Ratna Kumari; they had a son Radha Krishna Rao Jr., named after Ranga's brother Vangaveeti Radha Krishna Rao Sr., and a daughter, Vangaveeti Asha.

Political career

Vangaveeti Ranga entered public life after the death of his brother Vangaveeti Radha Krishna. His political career began in 1981, when he ran in the municipal election and the Congress Party withdrew its official candidate in his favor. His rival in the district, Devineni Rajasekhar, (Nehru), was sponsored by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), while Ranga became a leader of the Kapu community.[6] Ranga became an MLA for the Congress Party in 1985; Rajasekhar became a TDP MLA, and eventually a minister.[8] Starting in 1983 both parties were implicated in gang warfare; N. T. Rama Rao was at the time the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.[6] The gang warfare in Vijayawada dated further back; Ranga had served time in prison for the murder of Rajasekhar's brother Gandhi.[8] On 10 March 1988, Rajasekhar's brother Murali was killed, and followers of Ranga were accused. Ranga also campaigned against police abuse. On 10 July 1988, a rally called Kapunadu proclaimed him leader of the Kapus; he was in prison at the time, but after his release later that month began a bus tour called Jana Chaitanya Yatra "to expose the autocratic rule and misdeeds of Rama Rao". Rao had come to power after a van tour.[6]

Riots

Following his death, there were riots throughout the region.[6][7] The pattern of violence showed that the houses and property of Telugu Desam sympathisers who were mostly Kammas were attacked.[9] The city of Vijayawada was under curfew for 40 days. 42 people were killed. Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru) was ordered by the Chief Minister to surrender himself, and the Director-General of Police resigned.[6] 44 people were accused of the crime; in 2002, the 33 who had not died in the meantime were all acquitted.[7] One of them, Chalasani Venkateswara Rao, known as Pandu, was murdered in 2010.[10]

Successors

Mohana Ranga's widow Ratna Kumari was elected MLA in 1989; in her second term, she switched from the Congress Party to the TDP.[8] Radha Krishna also entered politics after his father's death.[11] He was a Congress Party MLA from 2004 to 2009; later he shifted to the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP)[12] then to the YSR Congress Party in 2012,[13] and then to TDP in 2019.

In popular culture

• Gaayam 2, a 2010 sequel to Gaayam, directed by Praveen Sri
• Bejawada, a 2011 action film directed by Vivek Krishna
• Vangaveeti, 2016 biographical film based on Vijayawada Gang Warfare, directed by Ram Gopal Varma

References

1. "It all began at the auto stand".
2. "Archive News". The Hindu.
3. http://www.sirisimpex.com/gsprf.htm
4. "G.S.Raju". Archived from the original on 2 February 1999. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
5. "Bid on ex-MLA's son: 4 held". The Hindu. 11 February 2004.
6. Menon, Amarnath K. (31 January 1989). "A caste war erupts". India Today.
7. Jafri, Syed Amin (5 March 2002). "All 33 accused in V M Ranga Rao murder acquitted". Rediff.com.
8. "It all began at the auto stand". The New Indian Express. 16 May 2012 [22 June 2010].
9. Menon, Amarnath K. (31 January 1989). "A caste war erupts". India Today.
10. "Not many surprised as 'settlement Pandu' meets a violent end". The Times of India. TNN. 28 September 2010.
11. "Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga remembered". The Hindu. 27 December 2007.
12. "Former PRP MLA refuses to join Cong". The Times of India. TNN. 23 August 2011.
13. "Vangaveeti Radhakrishna joins YSRCP". The Hindu. 28 April 2012.