C H C I P T E R 3

E a l a Venk,ata Rao was one o f t h e g r e a t p o l i t i c a l leaders

from South I n d i a . He was a man o f u p r i g h t c h a r a c t e r . full of

p u b l i c s p i r i t w i t h n o b l e i n t e n t i o n s and a l w a y s believed i n

t h e v i r t u e of d e d i c a t e d and s e l f l e s s s e r v i c e . He was strong

and s t u r d y i n p e r s o n a l appearance. He was endowed w i t h keen

political insight and exhibited extraordinary political

skills and c r a f t m a n s h i p . He was one o f the top leaders of

Andhra F r a d e s h and s e r v e d t h e c o u n t r y i n v a r i o u m c a p a c i t i e s .

The s t u d y o f a p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r c a l l s f o r a s t u d y of

h i s a d o l e s c e n c e and a d u l t h o o d , e s p e c i a l l y traumatic events o r

p e r s o n a l i t y c r i s e s t h a t may have s i g n i f i c a n t l y influenced h i s

1
subsequent behaviour. It i s therefore relevant to mak,e a

b r i e f e x a m i n a t i o n o f V e n k a t a H a o ' s c h i l d h o o d and a d o l e s c e n c e ,

i n order to e x p l a i n how they influenced his subsequent

b e h a v i o u r and t h i n k i n g .

Kala Venkata Rao was b o r n on t h e 7 t h J u l y , 1900 at

Mukk,amala v i l l a g e o f A m b a j i p e t a Mandal, in Konaseema. Him

a n c e s t o r s m i g r a t e d t o Undi from E a l i d i n d i v i l l a g e o f Krishna

District. H i s grand-father A y y a g a r i s a s t r y who n a s a native

of Undi v i l l a g e of West G o d a v a r i D i s t r i c t moved t o Nadipudi

village of the same district by adoption. His father

Brahmayya and h i s m o t h e r venkamma b e l o n g e d t o a m i d d l e class

Brahmin f a m i l y o f cultivators. Brahmayya, the f a t h e r o f Kala

Venkata Hao settled a t Mukkamala at his maternal grand

father's house after h i s mother's death. Kala's mother

Venkamma d i e d when he was J u s t t h r e e y e a r s o l d . Hie aunt,

Sreedhara subbamma.loved him v e r y much and she t o o k c a r e of

him. He had h i s primary education at his native place,

Mukkamala and secondary education at Middle School,

2
P u l l e t i k u r r u and Board H i g h S c h o o l . Amalapuram. During t h i s

period, he used t o r e a d news p a p e r s and j o u r n a l s like Andhra

Patrika. ,Krishna P a t r i k a , etc. i n Bala Bharati Library at

Mukkamala. He was g r e a t l y i n f l u e n c e d by t h e s e news papers

3
and j o u r n a l s . He married, Rajeewaramma, daughter o f Duvvuri

Venkateswarlu, village Mun~ift ( village officer) of

Mukkamala on t h e 2 0 t h A p r i l , 1914. H i s father-in-law was a

great patriot, p h i l a n t h r o p h i s t and gentleman. Eala joined

Intermediate c l a s s i n Maharaja's College, Vizianagaram i n

July, 1917. He passed I n t e r m e d i a t e and j o i n :ed B.A. i n the

same c o l l e q e d u r i n g t h e academic y e a r 1919-20. Kala Venkata

Hao arranged a farewell party t o the fellow students in

March, 1920. V e l u v a l i Veera Raghavaswami. a class-mate of

Kala Venk,ata Rao wrote a poem "The f o o l s of victor Town"

criticising the B r i t i s h Government and r e c i t e d it in the

party. The P r i n c i p a l , who was an English man could not

tolerate this. He suspended E a l a Venkata Rao and 4 other

students. After the student's agitation. the Principal

revoked the suspension of t h e o t h e r s t u d e n t s b u t K a l a Venknta

Rao was sent out of t h e C o l l e g e as he happended t o be the

rinq-leader of anti-British feelings i n the college.

Thereupon K a l a d i d n o t waste h i s t i m e and j o i n e d s e n i o r i3.G.

c l a s s a t Noble Colleqe. Machilipatnam. W h i l e he was s t u d y i n g

i n Nohle College. he a t t e n d e d t h e m e e t i n g s o f the political

leaders. He was greatly influenced by the speeches of

p r o m i n e n t freedom f i g h t e r s 1ik.e P a t t a b h i S i t a r a m a y y a ,
Mutnuri
4
K r i s h n a Rao P a n t u l u and Cherukuvada Narasimham P a n t u l u .

Mahatma Gandhi a l s o v i s i t e d t h e s e p a r t s o f Gndhra r e g i o n and

made a fervent appeal f o r what was then called triple

boycott. Those were t h e days o f n o n - c o - o p e r a t i o n movement.

Mahatma Gandhi gave a c a l l f o r t h e b o y c o t t o f law courts,

educational institutions and legislative bodies. Kala

Venkata Rao, who was b u b b l i n g w i t h e n t h u s i a s m responded to

5
this call. He gave u p h i s s t u d i e s and jumped i n t o t h e f r a y .

In him, was t h e r e a happy b l e n d of twin virtues of

sacrifice and s t u d y . When h i s d e c l a r a t i o n o f g i v i n g up of

his education in a meeting h e l d at Buttayipeta Hall i n

Machilipatnam on the 7 t h February. 1921, Pen Dhora, the

Principal of the Noble College wrote a letter to Kala's

father asking him to send h i s boy to College for the

remaining 7 days so as t o complete h i s B . , course. On

receiving t h i s letter, h i s f a t h e r was v e r y happy t o know his

son's e n t r a n c e i n t o t h e freedom s t r u g g l e and he a d v i s e d the

6
Principal t o e n c o u r a g e h i s son. K a l a Venkata Rao received

such an encouragement and s u p p o r t f r o m h i s f a t h e r . For him

c o u n t r y i s more i m p o r t a n t t h a n s t u d i e s . I n f a c t many o f his

friends requested him t o j u s t complete h i s term o f 7 more

days b u t he had t o choose e i t h e r t h e c o l l e g e o r command of
7
the Mahatma and he p r e f e r r e d t h e l a t t e r . He became one of

t h e v i g o r o u s exponents o f t h e Oandhian Movement. He s u f f e r e d

i m p r i s o n m e n t s e v e r a l t i m e s d u r i n g t h e freedom s t r u g g l e a t t h e
e
cost of his health. He t o o k t h e d e g r e e of Samaj Vidya

Visharada (Bachelor of S o c i a l Sciences) i n 1923 from the

9
G u j a r a t Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad, e s t a b l i s h e d by S a r d a r P a t e l .

K a l a used t o t e l l h i s friends t h a t h i s father-in-law was

responsible f o r h i s entrance i n t o p o l i t i c s . K a l a Venkata Rao

was introduced t o the p r a c t i c a l p o l i t i c s o f the province by

10
h i s father-in-law and he came t o know many Andhra leaders.

While s t ~ t d y i n g S.S.L.C. class in Board High School,

Amalapuram, he began h i s p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t i e s . He worked as

an e l e c t i o n agent t o h i s f a t h e r - i n - l a w who c o n t e s t e d i n the

Taluk Board elections. A meeting of the East Oodavari

District students' u n i o n was h e l d a t Amalapuram i n April

1917. K a l a Venkata Rao was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the successful

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conduct o f t h e m e e t i n g by q u i d i n g t h e v o l u t e e r s .

He attended t h e 4 t h Andhra C o n f e r e n c e h e l d at Kakinada

along w i t h h i s brother-in-law, N r u t y u n j a y a Somayajulu alias

Rabayya. A stream o f h i s f r i e n d s used t o meet h i m at his

residence for h i s guidance. P e o p l e found i n him a great

l e a d e r even a t t h e t e n d e r age o f 17 y e a r s . He was v e r y much

12
i n t e r e s t e d i n S o c i a l Service from the beginning. While he
was studying 1nt:arrnedistc at Maharaja's Col l r g e ,

Vizianagaram, he p a r t i c i p a t e d i n M u n i c i p a l e l e c t i o n campaign

i n support of h i s teacher, Prof. M.Venkatarangaiya, who was

elected. With t h i s experience, he c o n t e s t e d i n Students'

Union election of Maharaja's College and got elected

Secretary of the Students' Union i n 1918. He attended the

East G o d a v a r i D i s t r i c t Conference a s a l e a d e r o f volunteers

h e l d a t R a z o l e i n 1919. He h e l d t h e p o r t o f t h e Secretary of

the Students' U n i o n a g a i n w h i l e s t u d y i n g t h e degree c l a s s .

h l a Venkata Raw a t t e n d e d a l l I n d i a Congress Committee

meetinq h e l d a t Vijayawada i n 1921 as a Volunteer. He was

appointed as lieutenant of left petrol. He had the

opportunity o f seeing n a t i o n a l leaders a t t h a t meeting. He

discharged his d u t i e s t o t h e s a t i s f a c t i o n o f one nnd all.

admission o f new members, c o l l e c t i o n of T i l a k Swarajya fund

13
etc. were orqanimed by K a l a Venkata Rao. When he saw

Mahatma Gandhi approaching t h e meeting, he f e l t just like

14
P r a h a l a d a had d a r s a n a o f L o r d Narasimhaswamy.

After he had g i v e n up h i s e d u c a t i o n , he g o t acquaintance

with the East Qodavari leaders like B.Sambhamurthy,

Dr.R.Subrahmanyam, V - S a t y a n a r a y a n a and J. Ramachandra .Rae.

Very soon he became one o f t h e important leaders of the East

Godavari District. P. Gurumurty, M.Tirumala Rao and

M.Annapurnayya were h i s friends. He s t a r t e d Swayam Sevak

Sangh and membership i n c r e a s e d day by day. The member. used

to respect Kala Venkata Rao just like the members of

Kamadandu respected their leader Duggirala
13
Gopalakrishnayya. It was u n d e r t h e leadership of Kala

Venkata Rao, Freedom Movement was o r g a n i z e d i n Konaseema.

S i n c e 1921 he had been an a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h e struggle

for freedom and S o c i a l r e f o r m s . Under t h e c o n g r e s s banner,

he was one o f t h e f o u n d e r s o f t h e Gouthami S a t y a g r a h a Ashram

at Seetanagaram, w h i c h was e s t a b l i s h e d f o r t h e p r o m o t i o n of

Social reforms i n Andhra. He preached equality of a l l

religions and worked f o r the eradication of untouchability

through the Ashram. He helped Pattabhi Sitaramayya in

foundinq many b a s i c s c h o o l s i n Q o d a v a r i d i s t r i c t s and also

established several Khadi Centres i n the andhra region.

Gradually. by d i n t o f h i s a b i l i t y and steadfast work, he

began t o occupy i m p o r t a n t p o s i t i o n s n o t o n l y i n Congress but

also in the Co-operative movement. He r o s e to the much

coveted position of t h e G e n e r a l 5 e c r e t a . r ~o f the Congress

16
w h i l e D r . F ' a t t a b h i S i t a r a m a y y a was i t s P r e s i d e n t .

HIS SERVICE TO THE CONgRESS CW364WIZCITIM

He a l w a y s worked u n t i r i n g l y f o r t h e g r o w t h o f t h e c o n g r e s s

Party. H i s a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h t h e Congress has been long and

intimate. His keen intelligence. devotion to duty and'

c a p a c i t y f o r h a r d work, were a s o u r c e o f g r e a t s t r e n g t h t o t h e
17
Congress particularly i n Andhra Pradesh. B.S.Murthy, the

Deputy Minister. Government of India, who belonged to

Prakasam g r o u p s a i d t h a t K a l a Venkata R a o ' s loyalty to the

party was a l l p e r v a d i n g and i t c o u l d e a s i l y be s a i d t h a t he

was t o t h e Andhra Congress what S a r d a r F a t e 1 had been t o the
18
I n d i a n N a t i o n a l Congress.

P. Ranga Reddy said that he wae a stalwart among

Congressmen who had risen to the position of Qeneral

S e c r e t a r y i n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n f r o m t h e l o w e s t r u n g by d i n t o f
19
h a r d work, s a c r i f i c e and s u f f e r i n g i n freedom b a t t l e .

According to S. Nijalingappa,he was an organizer par

excellence. I t was due t o t h e u n q u a l i e d e f f o r t s and s a c r i f i c e

and o r g a n i z i n g c a p a c i t y o f E a l a Venkata Rao t h a t t h e Congress

i n Andhra had c o n t r i b u t e d s o much t o w a r d s t h e s u c c e s s o f the

20
freedom s t r u g g l e t h r o u g h o u t .

He was e l e c t e d t o T a l u k and D i s t r i c t Congress Committees

i n 1921. A c o n v e n t i o n was h e l d a t Kakinada i n which Kala

Venkata Rao moved a r e s o l u t i o n t o b o y c o t t t h e v i s i t of the

P r i n c e o f Wales. He a l s o s u p p o r t e d P u r n a S w a r a j y a r e s o l u t i o n .

He was e l e c t e d t o t h e S t a t e Congress Committee and other

subordinate committees i n 1923. He was also elected

Secretary to Amalapuram Town Congress Committee. He made

arrangements for t h e Congress m e e t i n g h e l d a t Kakinada i n

21
1927..

He was e l e c t e d S e c r e t a r y D i s t r i c t Congress Committee i n

1924. He a t t e n d e d A l l I n d i a Congress m e e t i n g h e l d a t Belgam

p r e s i d e d o v e r by Mahatama Gandhi. E l e c t i o n s t o r Taluk Board

were held i n 1925. I t was because o f Kala Venkata Rao's

leadership, Congrees got a l l the s i x seats in eretwhile

Amalapuram Taluk. C~riqremmmecured 7 meats o u t o f 12 meatm

c o n t e s t e d f o r Amalapuram U n i o n Roard. On h i s r e q u e s t Mahatma

22
Gandhi v i s i t e d Konaseema i n May, 1929.

Yala Venkata Rao was elected to A11 India Congress

Committee i n 1929. He a t t e n d e d the A l l India Congrees

meeting h e l d a t L a h o r e p r e r i d e d o v e r by J a w a h a r l a l N~hrui n

December, 1929. He a l s o a t t e n d e d the Ahmadabad Congress

m e e t i n g h e l d on 2 1 s t March 1930 w h i c h endorsed t h e r e s o l u t i o n

a b o u t s a l t S a t y a g r a h a passed by t h e w o r k i n g c o m m i t t e e on 1 4 t h

February. He sp0k.e i n a m e e t i n g h e l d a t Bombay p r e s i d e d o v e r

by Jamanlal Bajaj. He was e l e c t e d to District Congress

Committee a s one o f t h e S e c r e t a r i e s i n 1930. He organized

23
S a l t S a t y a g r a h a movement i n E a s t G o d a v a r i D i s t r i c t .

He was elected Secretary t o D i s t r i c t Congress Comittee

once again i n 1931. He a t t e n d e d Karachi Congress meeting

presided o v e r by S a r d a r F a t e l . W h i l e he was a t Karachi, he

read i n t h e news p a p e r t h a t p e o p l e were f i r e d at Vadapalli

chariat festival. He immediately rushed t o the spot. He

helped not only bereaved f a m i l i e s but also 36 innocent

p a t r i o t s who were a r r e s t e d by g i v i n g n e c e s s a r y l e g a l a i d and

24
r e l e a s e d them.

The S t a t e Congress Committee was r e o r g a n i z e d i n 1934. K.

Nageswara Rao P a n t u l u and A. K a l e s w a r a Rao were e l e c t e d the

P r e s i d e n t and t h e S e c r e t a r y r e s p e c t i v e l y and K a l a Vsnk.ata Rao

was elected J o i n t Secretary. I n 1935, leadership of State

Congress Committee changed. T a n g u t u t i Prakasam Pontulu wae

elected President and Ralusu Samba Murthy was elected

Secretary. Kala Venkata Rao continued to be the Joint

Secretary. I t was o n l y because o f t h e e f f o r t s o f K a l a Venkata

Hao, t h a t Congress s e c u r e d m a j o r i t y o f s e a t s i n West Qodavari

D i s t r i c t Hoard. He p e r f o r m e d t h e d u t i e s o f the Secretary for

25
a b o u t 5 months when Sambamurthy was s e r i o u s l y ill.

He was e l e c t e d t o t h e 611 I n d i a Congress Committee and

a t t e n d e d t h e m e e t i n g h e l d a t Bombay i n 1937. He a l s o a t t e n d e d

t h e Pl11 I n d i a Congress m e e t i n g h e l d a t C a l c u t t a i n May 1939.

The S t a t e Congress Committee a g a i n e l e c t e d K a l a Venkata Rao

one o f t h e J o i n t S e c r e t a r i e s i n 1939. E l e c t i o n s f o r district

Boards were h e l d i n 1939 and i t was because o f his efforts,

26
Congress g o t 42 s e a t s , out of 52 s e a t s .

In 1940, t h e r e w a g a r i f t anlonq Congress l e a d e r s in the

District Board elections i n Krishna District. The State

Conqress Committee appointed a review Sub-committee

consisting o f K a l a Venkata Hao and Subbarami Reddy to iron

o u t t h e d i f f e r e n c e s among t h e l e a d e r s . Plgain he was elected

Secretary t o t h e S t a t e Congress Committee a t a m e e t i n g held

at M a c h i l i p a t a m d e f e a t i n g Kommareddy Satyanarayana. He was

a l s o e l e c t e d t o a l l I n d i a Congress Committee. Elections for

the Madras L e g i s l a t i v e C o u n c i l were h e l d i n 1940. Congress

secured a l l t h e s e a t s i n Plndhra e x c e p t i n K r i s h n a D i s tr i c t .

Kala Venkata Hao v i s i t e d a l l t h e D i s t r i c t s t o s u p e r v i s e and

prepare the l i s t of members p a r t i c i p a t i n g ill t h e I n d i vi d u a l

Satyaqraha movement i n 1940. He was twice' arreeted and
27
r e l e a s e d on J a n u a r y 10. 1942.

After attendinq t h e A11 I n d i a Conqresm m e e t i n g held at

Warda on January 13, 1942, he t o o k o a t h o f office as the

Secretary of t h e S t a t e Canqress Committee. He i s s u e d a show

cause notice to Rulusu Sambamurthy for his activities

against Alahabad r e s o l u t i o n . The S t a t e Congress Committee

meeting was h e l d a t Amalapuram on June 18, 1942. Later it

met a t Madras t o examine t h e d i s c i p l i n a r y a c t i o n t o be taken

against H u l u s u Sambamurty.R u l u s u Sambamurty r e s i g n e d from

28
t h e membership and s p e a k e r s h i p o f l e g i s l a t i v e assembly.

Kala Venkata Rao was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e d r a f t i n g o f the

famous Andhra Circular i n July 1942. He was arrested on

Auqust 12, 1942. T.Prakasam P a n t u l u a d v i s e d E a l a t o deny t h e

29
d r a f t i n g o f Andhra C i r c u l a r . He d i d n o t a c c e p t h i s a d v i c e .

He was d e t a i n e d u n d e r t h e p r e v e n t i v e d e t e n s i o n A c t f r o m 1942
30
to 1945. He was t h e G e n e r a l Secretary of the Andhra

Provincial Congress f r o m 1939 t o 194h. N. Sanjeeva Reddy,

the first C h i e f M i n i s t e r o f Andhra Fradesh recalled Kala

Venkata R a o ' s i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n t h e 1942 movement and said,

i f the Congress in Andhra worked so well during thome

h i s t o r i c days, i t was he who was c h i e f l y r e s p o s i b l e . In this

context his name was mentioned even i n the Rritish

31
parliament. He was a p p o i n t e d G e n e r a l Secretary of A11

India Congress Committee i n J a n u a r y 1.949 by i t s President,

Pattabhi Sitnramayya. He r e s i g n e d f r o m t h e p o s t o f Revenue

M i n i s t e r i n p r e f e r e n c e t o t h e p o s t o f General S e c r e t a r y . The

r n m i q n a t l o r i warn n c c ~ p t s dhy t t m Rov~rr'rinr t o t a k a a ' f ' l n c t t r o ~ ~ ~

Verikata Hao made a a t a t e n ~ e r ~i tn t h e L.egisllative earse~nbiy.

His d e v o t i o n t o Congress was r e m a r k a b l e . F o r him party i s

more important than anything else. hfter paying his

g r a t i t u d e t o t h e Hon. t h e P r e m i e r who had g i v e n t h e chance o f

being a m i n i s t e r incharge o f t h e l a n d revenue p o r t f o l i o for

twenty two months, he emphasised t h a t t h e Congress had to

guide the d e s t i n i e s of t h i s c o u n t r y and t h e r e was no other

institution s o w i d e l y o r g a n i z e d and w i t h such great ideals

and w i t h such a b i g programme a s t h e one adumbrated by the

greatest man ever born i n the world, Mahatma Qandhi.

Therefore he a d v i s e d whether one was a m i n i s t e r o r not, it

was t h e d u t y o f e v e r y Congress man t o u n d e r t a k e t h e service.

According t o him, s e r v i c e was t h e i d e a l o f t h e Congress, it

must be s e r v i c e i n s i d e t h e L e g i s l a t i v e fissembly or outside.

32
They c o u l d n o t make a d i s t i n c t i o n between t h e two.

He sacrificed t h e post o f m i n i s t e r t o serve the Indian

National Congress, t h e mother i n s t i t u t i o n . I n t h e words of

Pattabhi " I t was r e a l l y g r e a t t h i n g t o g i v e u p t h e post of

revenue m i n i s t e r t o h o l d t h e p o s t o f General S e c r e t a r y o f the

33
fill India National Congress. From January, 1949 to

September, 1951, he was t h e G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y o f t h e Indian

National Congress. 6 s General S e c r e t a r y , his talents were

r-ec:oqnised by the l e a d e r s of a l l political parties. He

played a dominant r o l e i n t h e p o l i t i c a l a r e n a i n Andhra and

he exhibited h i s s a q a c i t y as t h e G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y of the
34
Congress.

fls the Secretary o f AICC, Kala Venkata Rao made an

i n d e l i b l e i m p r i n t on t h e i s s u e s o f : 1 ) Co-ordination between

the Congress Party and t h e Oovernment. ( 2 ) The central

control over t h e p r o v i n c i a l u n i t s o f t h e Congress Party i n

order to enforce discipline and check the r i ~ e of

factionalism i n the party. He drafted detailed and

systematic n o t e s on t h e s e i s s u e s . He advocated a c l e a r role

for t h e w o r k i n g committee and P a r l i a m e n t a r y Board o f the AICC

in the a f f a i r s r e l a t i n g t o party government co-ordination,

and t h e c e n t r a l c o n t r o l o f p a r t y o v e r t h e ~ r o v i n c i a lu n i t s .

Through t h e n o t e s , he suggested t h a t an annual m e e t i n g of

the Council. o f M i n i s t e r s and o f f i c e - b e a r e e of the party on

the eve o f t h e budget session o f the l e g i s l a t u r e ~ h o u l d be

h e l d f o r d i s c u s s i o n on a l l i m p o r t a n t p r o p o s a l s o f legislation

i n t h e year. T h i s must be f o l l o w e d u p by m o n t h l y m e e t i n g s to

review the co-ordination between t h e p a r t y and government.

He s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e p a r t y i s s o l e l y concerned w i t h policy

formulation and i t s h o u l d n o t i n t e r f e r e w i t h the day-to-day

administration of t h e government. He a l s o argued that the

Parliamentary Board s h o u l d o v e r s e e t h e a f f a i r s o f the party

u n i t s i n t h e p r o v i n c e s and check t h e s p r e a d o f factionalism.

These proposals of K a l a Venkata Rao were considered and

accepted by t h e R I C C , b u t were n o t p u t i n t o ~ r a c t i c edue to

the hard r e a l i t i e s of power p o l i t i c s of congress eystem.

Professor Stanely A.Kochanek aptly observed that the

s y s t e m a t i c t h i n k i n g of Kala Venkata Hao on these i s s u e s "even

today t h i s approach i s c o n s i d e r e d t o be one o f t h e b e s t means

35
o f p a r t y government c o o r d i n a t i o n " .

When he was the Health Minister of Madras State in

September, 1931, he also held the office of the

Vice-president o f Andhra Congress Committee which he r e e i g n e d

i n March. 1954 because of disagreement w i t h the Governen~s

36
d e c i s i o n p e r m i t t i n g S t a t e w i d e t a p p i n g o f Neera.

He was a great parliamentarian being a member of the

L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly and t h e p a r l i a m e n t . As a L e g i s l a t o r , he

was very effective. He was e l e c t e d t o h M a d r a s leqislative

assembly from Amalapuram General R u r a l C o n s t i t u e n c y i n 1937.

He took oath o f o f f i c e on J u l y 14th, 1937 in the first

session of the First leqislative Assembly under the

77
Government o f I n d i a Act, 1935. He was t h e f i r s t member to

put a question i n t h e f i r s t session of Madras legislative

aenwvbly. t l i s q u e s t i o n w a n ahout thm I - d u c t i o n o f t h n water

ccss i n respect of l a n d s under t h e Palavaram I s l a n d project

38
in Eonaseema . He p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e d i s c u s s i o n on the

Budget in the f i r s t session. He s u p p o r t e d t h e Budget and

explained t h e p o l i c y o f Government c l e a r l y . The opposition

attacked t h e Budget from f o u r p o i n t s o f view, namely, hand

spinning, prohibition, l a n d r e v e n u e and s a l a r i e s . Speaking

on t h e s e f o u r p o i t s , K a l a Venkata Rao a r g u e d t h a t i t was the

responsibility of t h e Uovernment t o p r o v i d e some kind of

employment t h a t was w i t h i n t h e r e a c h o f t h e common man, to

t h e man who was a b l e t o r e n d e r some l i t t l e h e l p u n t o h i m s e l f .

The spinning wheel brought light where there was no

illumination and qave h i m f o o d e v e r y d a y where t h e r e was not

even a m o r s e l o f food. He added t h a t hand s p i n n i n g was the

only panacea for t h e e v i l s t h a t eHisted t h a t day i n our

country. A s r e g a r d s p r o h i b i t i o n he s a i d t h a t t h e r e was no

doubt t h a t t h e scheme o f p r a h i b i t i o n would succeed even i n

i t s f i r s t a t t e m p t on t h e 1 s t o f O c t o b e r . And t h e t e a r that

had been e n t e r t a i n e d i n some q u a r t e r s t h a t as a reeult of

that policy, t h e t o d d y d r a w e r s w o u l d become g a n g s t e r s ; i f not

employed had n o b a s i s and even assuming t h a t some of them

would r e s o r t t o i l l i c i t d i s t i l l a t i o n , t h e r e would be Congress

gun men with Gandhi Caps and sweet tongues to check any

lapses i n t h e m a t t e r and work f o r t h e success o f t h e policy

of prohibition. Next, he r e f e r r e d t o t h e q u e s t i o n of land

revenue. It had been s t a t e d by t h e opposition that the

provision of 75 l a k h s r e m i a s i o n was n o t s u f f i c i e n t to meet

the conditions i n the country. He q u e s t i o n e d t h e opposition

S t t,he p r e m i e r had e v e r s a i d t h a t i t was suffficient and

premier himself s t a t e d t h a t he had u n d e r his consideration

p r o p o s a l s f o r e x p l o i t i n g a l t e r n a t i v e s o u r c e o t revenue. They

were many and t h e c h i e f o t them was t o t a n the Zamindara.

Rack-renting i n Zamindar a r e a s s h o u l d qo and new s o u r c e s of

revenue should a l s o be found f r o m these Zamindari areas.

Therefore K a l a Venkata Rao s a i d t h a t t h e i r f u t u r e programme

would be based on h e l p i n g the agriculturists. Then he

referred the question o f t h e r u r a l indebtedness. He said

that w i t h a new o r i e n t a t i o n o f the policy of co-operation,

they could achieve much i n the redemption of rural

i n d e b t e d n e s s and he hoped t h a t i t would be done. Lastly, he

brought to the notice o f t h e house a few local grievances

pertaining t o h i s d i s t r i c t . He m e n t i o n e d t h e q u e s t i o n o f the

Polavaram Island p r o j e c t and r e q u e s t e d t h e p r e m i e r to see

that t a n was r e d u c e d i n t h a t a r e a t o t h e normal d e l t a rate,

viz.. Rupees f i v e . Then he m e n t i o n e d a b o u t the Torrigadda

pro.jec:t. It was a s t r e a m t h a t came from the hills and

discharge i n t h e G o d a v a r i when t h e r i v e r was i n f l o o d s , the

f l o o d w a t e r would go on t h r o u g h t h i s o p e n i n g and t h e w a t e r o f

combined rivers would submerge 40 v i l l a g e s i n and around

Torricjadda. From 1872 t h e Government had been making ettorts

to have an o u t f l o w s l u i c e . R u t f o r v a r i o u s reasons it did

not materialise, K a l a Venkata Rno r e q u e s t e d t h a t under the

39
Madras Famine Code some h e l p m i g h t be r e n d e r e d t o them.

He hrought to the notice of the Madras legislative

assembly a number o f i s s u e s d u r i n g 19.37-39 also concerning

the proposals for t a k i n g over t h e control of Rameswaram

channel i n t h e E a s t Godavari d i s r i c t , r e d u c t i o n o f water rate

in the Godavari delta, Recruitment of Commissioner of

Municipalities f r o m t h e r a n k s o f d i s t r i c t Panchayat officers

and d i s t r i c t Hoard S e c r e t a r i e s , proposal t o strengthen the

f l o o d hank s u r r o u n d i n g t h e Feravaram v i l l a g e , coetruction of

a tidal l o c k n e a r Gopayalanka i n t h e G o d a v a r i C e n t r a l delta,

measures f o r t h e r e v i t a l i z a t i o n of the co-operation movement,

Representations regarding t h e construction o f a r e s e r v o i r i n

the upper Godavari r e g i o n , reamalgamation o f the group-111

District Boards, progress of t h e scheme o f the construction

of a b r i d g e a c r o s s t h e Godavari a t Alamuru, land revenue

remission on dry lands i n East Godavari, relief meaeureo

proposed to he g i v e n t o t h e R y o t s a f f e c t e d by floods and

c:yclone i n the lankas i n East Godavari, creation of

linguistic provinces etc. were some o f t h e proposals raised

40
by h i m i n t h e L e g i s l a t u r e .

He made many suggestions to the Government by

participating i n t h e general discussions of the Budget for

1998-39. He s u g g e s t e d t h a t p r o g r e s s i v e t a x a t i o n should be

the wisper f o r the future. He a l s o suggested a ' t u r n over'

tax on a l l f o r e i g n goods s o l d i n t h e Madras Presidency and

ta:.: on i n h e r i t e d w e a l t h . As famine was r a g i n g i n Rayalaseema,

he appealed some permanent r e l i e f be a f f o r d e d t o t h a t area.

Before closing his speech, he mentioned a few local

grievances i n his district. He drew t h e a t t e n t i o n of the

Revenue M i n i s t e r t o t h e need f o r r e m i s s i o n o f water rate i n

the K r i s h n a and G o d a v a r i a n i c u t systems. He made a request

a g a i n a b o u t t h e I s l a n d Polavaram P r o j e c t I n Konaseema. That

project was opened i n 1929 and i t was e s t i m a t e d t o irrigate

an a r e a o f 17,91:10 a c r e s and t h e w a t e r r a t e was f i x e d a s high

as r u p e e s t e n and a . h a l f . A f t e r t h r e e years. the cultivable

area f e l l down and came t o 7.000 acres. Then t h e Oovcrnment

found o u t t h e m i s t a k e and d e c r e a s e d t h e t a x t o r u p e e s seven

and a h a l f . The p o o r p e o p l e t h e r e w e r e u n a b l e t o pay. even t h e

revised tax as the land being saline i n nature.

Further--more, it was a f a r higher rate than the ' r a t e

collected i n the delta. K a l a V e n k a t a Rao a r g u e d and a p p e a l e d

on behalf of t h e poor people o f the 'Island Falavaram to

reduce the t a x t o r u p e e s e i x and a - q u a r t e r i.e., the post

settlement r a t e t h a t was i n vogue i n a l l t h e d e l t a s of tiia

area. Then he mentioned t h e Coringa p r o j e c t . He said

t h a t t h i s p r o j e c t was s a n c t i o n e d a s e a r l y a s 1914 b u t t h e war

int.ervened and s o i t was abandoned a t t h a t s t a g e . I t was a

productive p r o j e c t .and would yield a good return to

Government, and he hoped t h a t t h e M i n i s t e r f o r p u b l i c works

would t o u c h upon t h a t . Then he added t h a t t h e r e w e r e other

small schemes l i k e t h e P e r a v a r a m h i g h l e v e l c h a n n e l project

with rotation supply o f water with Eanur; water supply

schemes f o r Sankaraguptam, A r i t e r v e d i and T a d i k o n d a and the

construction of few t i d a l l o c k s and o t h e r p r o j e c t s . He hoped

that the M i n i s t e r t o r P u b l i c works would undertake theme

41
works a l s o .

He was a g a i n e l e c t e d t o Madras L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly trom

Amalapuram General rural constituency i n 1946. While

p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e G e n e r a l d i s c u s s i o n on t h e B u d g e t t o r t h e

year 1946-47, he m e n t i o n e d t h e q u e s t i o n o f social services.

He made a comparative study o t importance given to social

services i n different countries. He s a i d t h a t in England

they would spend a s much na 25.99 percent of their State

income on S o c i a l S e r v i c e s and i n A u s t r a l i a 17.9 percent. But

i n India, t h e y would spend o n l y 8.5 percent of their Reveue

nn Social Service of every k i n d . They c o u l d spend much of

their income on Social Services. He suggested that the

additional funds t h a t t h e Government would p r o v i d e i n the

future should qo towards t h e enlargement of the Social

Services i n the rural areas. He said that he had no

abjec:tion to industrilization as such3 but for the

industrilization of the plough he was not prepared.

Rccording to him, t h e y must g i v e an i n a t r u r n e n t perhapm an

improved one, b u t s h o u l d n o t mechanize t h e p l o u g h i n this

c o u n t r y and t h e r e b y d e s t r o y once and f o r a l l t h e b a s i s o f t h e

42
rural economy. He was o f t h e o p i n i o n t h a t the agrarian

policy of t h e S t a t e must combine and s o l v e all the three

problems together the problem o f tenure, the problem Of

tenancies and t h e p r o b l e m o f t a x a t i o n and u n l e s s t h o s e were

tacC:.led together, t h e r e c o u l d n o t be any d e s i r a b l e progress

in the a g r a r i a n s e c t o r i n our country. He suggested that

there must be r e v o l u t i o n a r y scheme o f land reforms. The

first item of t h e programme o f the Minister was to bring

a b o u t t e n a n c y r e f o r m t h a t would be r e v o l u t i o n a r y i n c h a r a c t e r

and lands should be allowed to pass from the actual

c u l t i v a t o r s t o mere r e n t i e r s . I t was c a l c u l a t e d t h a t 70% o f

the c u l t i v a t e d l a n d i n t h i s c o u t r y was b e i n g cultivated by

p e o p l e who d i d n o t a c t u a l l y own t h a t land. T h i s was a thing

w h i c h would r e q u i r e q u i c k r e f o r m . Therefore he s a i d t h a t t h e

system of o w n e r s h i p s h o u l d be made t h e f o u n d a t i o n of rural

economy. There must be only the Government and the

c ~ ~ l t i v a t i nt e
g n a n t and t h a t c u l t i v a t i n g t e n a n t s h o u l d be the

owner. t h e manager and t h e l a b o u r e r , a l l combined into one

and aqrarian p r o b l e m s c o u l d be s o l v e d ift h a t was brought

about. Then he came t o t h e question of land taxation.

Uneconomic holdings s h o u l d be exempted f r o m t a x e s and the

principle of p r o g r e s s i v e t a x a t i o n s h o u l d be i n t r o d u c e d into

the system. Heyarding lanka lands, he suqqested t h a t there

should he c o m p a r a t i v e r e d u c t i o n i n r a t e s o r b i d amounts i n

case o f erosi,on. He pleaded f o r a comprehensive l e g i s l a t i o n

f o r affecting t h e r e f o r m s he had m e n t i o n e d . A 5 an immediate

measure, he s u g g e s t e d t h e a b o l i t i o n o f the Revenue Board's

43
standing orders.

Regarding i r r i g a t i o n , he suggested a more i n t e g r a t e d plap

t r o s i d e r i n q Rndhra c o n d i t i o n s . 'They were : ( 1) Vamc,adhar.a and

Naqavali g r o u p and ( 2 ) Godavari. K r i s h n a and Pennar group.

He also s u g g e s t e d two b i g dams a t . tiamapadasagara site and

Sanqemeswara and a w i d e and deep c a n a l s h o u l d a l s o be dug

from G o d a v a r i and a l l o w e d t o f a l l above t o Krishna anicut.

!Similarly t h e r e s h o u l d be a l s o a c a n a l dug f r o m Sangameswara

site and allowed t o f a l l i n t h e Pennar above the Nellore

anicut. whose s h u t t e r s c o u l d be r a i s e d . Then Pennar would he

available for total use i n Anantapur district. That

arrangemet was v e r y u r g e n t l y needed f o r t h a t d i s t r i c t as it

had a v e r y s c a n t y r a i n f a l l . Therefore. he suggested t h a t t h e .

new c o n k t i t u t i o n must p r o v i d e f o r a d e c l a r a t i o n t o t h e e f f e c t

that e v e r y r i v e r i s a n a t i o n a l o r f e d e r a l p r o p e r t y and that

44
n o p a r t s can o b s t r u c t i t s m u l t i - p u r p o s e utilisation.

He was a gifted debator with prodigious memory and

thorough qrasp of t h e sub.ject with almost ency c l o p a e d i c

knowledge o f many m a t t e r s . D u r i n g h i s j a i l days, he devoted

his time t o v o r a c i o u s r e a d i n g and c u l t i v a t e d t h e habit of

preparing elaborate notes. T h i s a t t i t u d e of h i s t h a t he was

e v e r a s t u d e n t i n l i f e h e l p e d h i m t o have a mastery o v e r the

45
subject.

He used to r e b u t t h e arguments of the opposition by

abundant q u o t a t i o n s coupled w i t h ready w i t . His speech i n

the Assembly was f u l l o f quotations. He used to quote

eminent people. F o r e;<ample, w h i l e s p e a k i n g on t h e r e p o r t o f

the Madras E s t a t e s l a n d and E n q u i r y C o m i t t e e on J a n u a r y 23,

1939. he q u o t e d f r o m a R a j p u t sonq.

"Rhog Ra Dhanni R a j Ho

Rhum Ha Dhanni Ma cho"

" The Government i s t h e owner o f t h e t a x and I am the

master of the land ". F u r t h e r he q u o t e d c o o l broke. Cool

b r o k e s a y s i n h i s essays, "The Monarch has n o t t h e property

of the earth. H i s e a r t h l y power i s f o r t h e Oovernment o f the

realm o r the c o l l e c t i o n o f taxes". He a l s o q u o t e d Muhomadan

authorities "He who hae t h e t r i b u t e f r o m t h e land has no

property i n i t ' - Modena S h a r i Razz. .

 'Whoever c u l t i v a t e s land does t h e r e b y a c q u i r e t h e p r o p e r t y

of them' Mohamed i n t h e Heday, f o u r t h chapter.

Kala Venkata Rao emphasised t h a t a l l these authorities

would show that even in the pre-historic periods the

proprietorship of the soil vested i n t h e Ryot. He also

quoted justice Muttuswami Ayyar ' A c c o r d i n g t o what may be

termed t h e Hindu Common l a w , a r i q h t t o t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f the

land i s a c q u i r e d by t h e f i r s t p e r s o n who makes a beneficial

use o f the soi 1' .

T h a t was t h e s t a t e o f a f f a i r s a t the time of t h e permanent

settlement. He t h e r e f o r e contended t h a t t h e proprietorship

46
of the s o i l vested i n t h e Ryot.

W h i l e s p e a k i n g on t h e Pudqet f o r t h e year 1946-47, he s a i d

that Finance was n o t merely a r i t h m a t i c and i t had a great

policy behind i t . I n t h i s connedion, he q u o t e d M r . Gladstone,

the Prime-Minister of England. Gladstone once stated,

"Budget i n a thousand ways go t o t h e r o o t o f the prosperity

of individuals, t h e r e l a t i o n s of c l a s s e s and t h e s t r e n g t h o f
47
nations".

Kala Venkata Rao was e l e c t e d member o f the Constituent

Assembly in July 1946 f r o m t h e Madras Presidency. As a

member of t h e C o n s t i t u e n t Assembly, K a l a Venk.ata Rao made

some sugqestions t o t h e issues r e l a t i n q t o t h e drafting of

the constitution. Kala Venkata Kao and Rnanthnsayanam

ayyanqar worked t o g e t h e r i n p r e s e n t i n g t h e i r views f o r making

amendments to the d r a f t constitution. He was very much

40
i n t e r e s t e d on i s s u e s r e l a t i n g t o Fundamental r i g h t s .

M I N PILLAR OF EWERY MIMET

Kala Venkata Hao f u n c t i o n e d as t h e main p i l l a r of every

C a b i n e t i n w h i c h he was a member. He was a p o p u l a r minister

in Madras P r e s i d e n c y . Taminlnadu always used t o h a i l him as

49
versatile minister. In 1946. he was elected t o tktladras

l e g i s l a t i v e assembly f r o m Amalapuram c o n s t i t u e n c y and became

the Revenue M i n i s t e r i n 1947 w h i c h p o s t he h e l d from March

Yi,
,L 1947 t o January 24, 1949. He h e l d t h e p o s t of Revenue

Minister with great dexterity. During this period, he

introduced and successfully piloted the following

important b i l l s .

(1) The Madras E s t a t e s land ( R e d u c t i o n o f R e n t ) B i l l . 1947 I

The b i l l s o n q h t t o reduce t h e r e n t s i n Z a m i n d a r i v i l l a g e s to

the l e v e l o f t h e R y o t w a r i r e n t s i n t h e neighbourhood. I t was

a w e l l known f a c t t h a t t h e Zamindars were c h a r g i n g r e n t s at

exorbitant rates i n almost a l l t h e e s t a t e s throughout the

Presidency. He s a i d t h a t i t was t h e d u t y o f the Bovernment

to see t h a t t h e s e r e n t s were r e d u c e d and t h e Government had

d e c i d e d t h a t t h e r e d u c t i o n s h o u l d be t o t h e l e v e l o f Ryotwari

rents i n t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g areas. He added t h a t t h e r e would

have been no n e c e s s i t y t o move t h e b i l l e x c e p t f o r the fact

that the b i l l t o abolish the permanent settlement itself

vrou.ld take a l i t t l e t i m e t o become l a w and i f they waited

k i l l t h a t b i l l became l a w , t h e t e n a n t s i n the Zamindari areas

50
would r i o t q e t i m m e d i a t e r e l i e f .

( 2 ) The Madras E s t a t e s Communal. F o r e s t and p r i v a t e lands

(pr-ohihition of Olienatiori) b i l 1 1947 :

Nn ordinance iri almost s i m i l a r terms o f the b i l l was

promulas.ted on the 27th June, 1947. The terms of the

ordinerice were passed i n t o an 0 c . t . . so as to achieve i t s

o b j e c t s on t h e 1 8 t h O c t o b e r . 1947.

Tht? need f o r t h i s B i l l a r o s e on a c c o u n t o f a l a r g e number

of c o m p l a i n t s t h a t were r e c e i v e d a g a i n s t l a n d h o l d e r s . This

b i l l was practically a temporary one i n view of the

f o r t h c o m i n q measure r e l a t i n g t o t h e a b o l i t i o n o f Z a m i n d a r i e s .

This should havr effect till the actual abolition of

Zamindaries took:. p l a c e and p r e v e n t e d t h e l a n d holders from

f o r u i b 1 . e o c c ~ ~ p a t i oand
n abuse o f t h e communal l a n d and lands

defined as Pnr-@st l a n d , parambolter; ptc.. arid aleo with

31
c ~ r i v a t el a n d s .

(3) The Madras E s t a t e s ( R e p e a l o f the permanent settlement

and C o n v e r s i o n i n t o Ay0twar.i.) R i l l 1947 :

The main o b j e c t o f t h e b i l l was t o a b o l i s h t h e Z a m i n d a r i e s

and t h e n v e s t t h e r i g h t s i n t h e Government and t h e n proceed

with the settlement. settle the basic annual sum. the

c:ompensatic~ri payable. i t s o-f peymnn t .

rnc~r:)~? the scale af
c?,
JL

payment o f i t s apportionment e t c .
4 T Tungabhadra project (Prevention of spearlation in

land) Bill 1947 t

h

This P i l l was i n t e n d e d f o r a particular purpose. The

p u r p o s e was o n l y t o p r e v e n t s p e c u l a t i o n i n l a n d . The B i l l was

intended t o c o n t r o l t h e ownership o f land. 6 provision was

made to acquire a l l l a n d owned by any p e r s o n i n eKcess of

53
fifty a c r e s purchased a f t e r O c t o b e r , 1944.

(5) T k Halabar Irrigation works (Construction and 1 of

Cess) Bill 1947 t

Walabar was a s i n g l e d i s t r i c t and had an a r e a of 3,790

square miles and a p o p u l a t i o n (1941 census) of 39,29,423.

The a n n u a l average r a i n f a l l o f t h e d i s t r i c t amounted t o a b o u t

117.9 i n c h e s . B u t i t was a c u r i o u s t h i n g t h a t t h i s district

was d e f i c i t i n r-eqard t o i t s f o o d r e q u i r e m e n t s . There was

one . i r r i q a t i o n work w o r t h m e n t i o n i n g i n t h e t a l u k o f Palghat,

and t h i s was a c q u i r e d f r o m a p r i v a t e i n d i v i d u a l i n 1902 for

t h e good sum o f Rs. 3,152. I t y i e l d e d a revenue o f about Rs.

240 per annum. Of c o u r s e i t was a good investment but

unfortunately for an area o f over 5,700 sq.miles and a

population of n e a r l y 40 l a k h s and w i t h an a r e a where food

production was i n deficit, and t h a t this safe irrigation

alone should e x i s t a l l these years w i t h no a t t e m p t t o bring

irriqation f a c i l i t i e s t o t h a t a r e a was r a t h e r c u r i o u s . The

b i l l wanted t o i m p r o v e t h e p o s i t i o n . I n t h e post-war scheme

there was provision f o r i r r i g a t i o n facilitiee. major and

minor. To execute SLIC~ works t h e Bovernment should get

c e r t a i n l e g a l power s o t h a t l e g a l o b s t a c l e s may n o t s t a n d i n

t h e way o f c o n s t r u c t i n g dams and o t h e r i r r i g a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s .

54
So t h e b i l l was i n t e n d e d t o g e t s u c h l e g a l powers.

6 The Madras construction of Buildings m wet lad

(prohibition) Bill. 1948 r

The o b j e c t o f t h e b i l l was t o p r o h i b i t t h e construction o f

building on wet lands which were producing food. The

Government was aware t h a t t h e r e was housing shortage and .

there was need t o c o n s t r u c t new b u i l d i n g s . Put while the

food situation had n o t improved, t h e Government could not

allow i t t o deteriorate. That was why t h e Qovernment had to

give priority t o food. The Government had received many

applications from every corner o f the province for the

acquisition of l a n d s f o r house b u i l d i n g . If t h a t was left

unchecked, there was t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t houses might be

built on wet l a n d s w h i c h produced f o o d f o r them. Therefore

tihe Government t h o u g h t t h a t by some k i n d o f control, they

c:ould see t h a t t h i s d i d n o t go o f f a t a tangent. That was

55
t h e purpose of t h e b i l l .

( 7 ) The ebdras Land Requisition and acquisition Bill. 1948 t

The purpose o f t h i s b i l l was t o a c q u i r e c e r t a i n military

lands and military buildings which had since been

requisitioned by t h e Government. Some o f them had been

re-requisitioned and some had t o be acquired also. The

process was n o t c o m p l e t e and t h e r e f o r e a t h e 4overnment had to

take some powers i n c o n t i n u a t i o n o f t h e Defence of India

Rules. The b i l l would n o t a p p l y o r d i n a r i l y t o e v e r y body and

every place. Two a d d i t i o n a l purposes were added i n that

R i l l , the housing o f Refugees, and t h e storing of food

56
grains.

(8) The Hadram Irrigation Tankm (Improvement) Bill. 1948 r

This was a b i l l u n d e r w h i c h t h e Oovernment proposed to

a c q u i r e power t o i m p r o v e and r e p a i r a l l tank-bunds i n respect

of dilapidated tanks i n general. T h i s was one o f the few

b i l l s w h i c h had r e c e i v e d much s u p o r t f r o m a11 t h e Memberta of

57
t h e House.

His talent found t h e i r f u l l vent i n his piloting the

Zamindari A b o l i t i o n P i l l . a g r e a t land-mark i n the h i t o r y of

Indian legislatures. He s u c c e s Q l l y piloted the ~amindari

a b o l i t i o n b i l l as t h e Madras E s t a t e s (Repeal o f t h e permanent

s e t t l e m e n t and c o n v e r s i o n i n t o R y o t w a r i ) P i l l , 1947 f i r s t of

i t s k i n d t o r e c e i v e t h e Governor G e n e r a l t a s s e n t .

Then what is meant by Z a m i n d a r i system?

During the p e r i o d o f East I n d i a Company, Lord Cornwallis

i n t r o d u c e d t h e permanent s e t t l e m e n t i n Rengal i n 1793. Under

this system, t h e Zamindars who were o n l y t h e agent9 of the

Government were d e c l a r e d f u l l p r o p r i e t o r s o f the areas where

they c o l l e c t e d l a n d revenue. The l a n d revenue assessment was

f i x e d a t t e n e l e v e n t h o f what t h e Zamindar c o l l e c t e d as rent

from the cultivators, t h e b a l a n c e g o i n g t o t h e Zamindars as

r-emuneration. The system gave an open hand t o t h e Zamindars

and l a n d l o r d s t o e x t r a c t t h e h i g h e s t p o s s i b l e r e n t f r o m the

cultivators. They i n effect became a parasitic class

interested only in e x t r a c t i n g t h e maximum rent from the

peasants. The system of permanent settlement was also

98
e x t e n d e d t o .Madras. The a t t e m p t r a n i n t o d i f f i c u l t i e s .

S t r o n g s e n t i m e n t s a g a i n s t t h e Z a m i n d a r i system had a l r e a d y

grown b e f o r e independence. I n 1928, t h e fill I n d i a Congrsaa

Committee declared t h a t the a b o l i t i o n o f land lordism must

occupy a p r o m i n e n t p l a c e i n t h e i r programme. The absentee

land l o r d s were a c c ~ ~ s eodf b e i n g o p p r e s s i v e and i n general

the h i g h r e n t s charged f r o m t h e t e n a n t s were f r i t t e r e d away

on conspicuous consumption rather than help capital

formation. In t h e absence o f any State interference, the

a b s e n t e e owners e x p l o i t e d t h e a c t u a l t i l l e r s by i n d u l g i n g i n

rack-renting, evictions and be-gar (services wihout

payments). A b o l i t i o n o f t h e Z a m i n d a r i system t o be replaced

by a system o f "land t o the t i l l e r " became a part of the'

n a t i o n a l movment f o r p o l i t i c a l and economic independence f r o m

99
the a l i e n rule.

After independence high priority was given to the

a b o l i t i o n of i n t e r m e d i a r y tennures (Zamindars). ficcordingly,

every state enacted i t s own l e g i s l a t i o n to abolish this

tennure system on t h e payment o f compensation. Basically,

the law p r o v i d e d f o r t h e S t a t e t a k e o v e r o f the estates of

Zamindars on payment o f compensation and offering their

60
o w n e r s h i p t o c u l t i v a t o r s on t h e i r payment o f f i x e d sums.

W h i l e s p e a k i n g on t h e o b d e c t i v e s o f the P i l l , K a l a Venkata

Rao s a i d t h a t t h e i r s had been a l a n d o f Zamindar's glory and

peasant proverty. I n the l i g h t of social ju*tice, they had

t o set r i g h t that inequality. They must c a r e f o r t h a t person

who produced t h e i r f o o d . h i s family and h i s social welfare

and said that legislation was only the first step i n

achieving that objective. He s a i d t h a t t h e y must take a

number o f o t h e r s t e p s i n o r d e r t o c r e a t e a l i v i n g i n t e r e s t i n

the man that t i l l e d t h e lands. I n order to achieve that

o b j e c t many s t a t u t e s had t o be b r o u g h t . He q u o t e d L o r d Wave11

who said that t h e y must l i f t t h e p o o r man of India from

poverty to security from i l l - h e a l t h to vigour and from

ignorance t o understanding. k:ala Venkata Rao added if t h e y

wanted t o a c h i e v e a l l t h o s e o b j e c t s t h e y must g i r d u p their

l o a n s and would do t h e i r b e s t f o r t h e cause o f the t i l l e r of

the s o i l whose w e l f a r e was t h e i r m a i n c o n c e r n . They had to

march w i t h t h e times. They were i n a s o c i a l service state

and t h e y had t o l o o k i n t o t h e c o n d i t i o n o f m i l l i o n s of ryote

who were t o i l i n g u n d e r v a r i o u s burden- i n various parts of

t h e Madras P r e s i d e n c y . He s a i d t h a t he wanted t o r e f o r m the

system i n a manner w h i c h would h e l p t h e common man, the

tenant and t h e f i r s t s t e p i n t h e i r s o c i a l legislation, was

the a b o l i t i o n of Zamindaris. O t h e r measures would f o l l o w i n

due c o u r s e . He hoped t h a t by t h a t measure t h e y had w e l l and

truely l a i d t h a t f o u n d a t i o n and t h e r e f o r e t h e t i l l e r o f the

soil and t h e common man,who had been t o i l i n g t h r o u g h o u t his

l i f e would bn abln t o l o o k ahead and b0 a f r e e and happy man.

He s a i d t h e p o l i c y o f h i s Government was n o t r i g h t , not left

61
but forward.

A t t h e end o f t h e speech on t h e P i l l , he s t a t e d that it

was a l o n g way f r o m C o r n w a l l i s t o K a l a Venkata Rao; more t h a n

1 5 0 y e a r s had gone by. T h a t day t h e permanent s e t t l e m e n t was

g o i n q t h e way o f many age o l d t h i n g s w h i c h had been t o t t e r i n g

on t h e i r pedastals. When S t a t e s went and were going away,

estates could n o t continue t o stay i n the country and they

need n o t f e e l s o r r y f o r t h e changes b r o u g h t by t h e change of

time i n the country. They d i d n o t have a n y t h i n g a g a i n s t any

particular estate. The t i m e was r i p e . The o l d system was

62
q o i n g away. The b i l l was passed.

Inspite of t h e p o l i t i c a l d i f f e r e n c e s he l a i d t h e c r e d i t o f

Zamindari abolition R i l l at the feet of his Ouruji,

T. Frakasam. I n h i s own words " S i r , i n this connection, I

would l i k e t o point out that i n s p i t e of the s l i g h t political

difference which my h o n o u r a b l e G u r u j i Frakasam Garu might

have with me, and i n s p i t e o f t h e few h a r s h words that he

might have s a i d a g a i n s t me d u r i n g t h i s one y e a r and odd. I

may say t h a t i f t h e r e i s any c r e d i t t h a t i s g i v e n t o me by

the number o f members who spoke d u r i n g t h e t h i r d r e a d i n g , I

must l a y t h a t c r e d i t a t t h e f e e t o f my O u r u j i because I have

been h i s v e r y c l o s e f o l l o w e r f o r a number o f y e a r s and I have

learnt many t h i n g s f r o m him. Even d u r i n g t h e day- of the

Estates land E n q u i r y i n 1937, I was w i t h h i m and had the

o p p o r t u n i t y o f g o i n g t h r o u g h a number o f records. I was a l s o

taken into his confidence w i t h reference t o a number of

matters concerninq t h i s legislation. I f I have any ideas

w i t h referenck t o t h e abolition of t h e e s t a t e s and t h e life,

I must say with a l l my h e a r t t h a t I owe much to him.

Therefore, Sir, w h a t e v e r he m i g h t have s a i d a g a i n s t me, I

63
w i l l t a k e i t a s h i s b l e s s i n g and n o t h i n g e l s e . '

N.Sanjeeva Heddy. the f i r s t Chief Minister of Andhra

Pradesh pointed out "From C o r n w a l l i s t o K a l a was an era

t h e r e b y e p i t o m i s i n g t h e o u t s t a n d i n g c o n t r i b u t i o n made by the

deceased statesman i n abolishingthe vexatious Zamindari

64
system i n t h e c o m p o s i t e Madras s t a t e .

Kala Venkata Rao resigned from the post of Revenue

M i n i s t e r i n preference t o the post of General S e c r e t a r y , A l l

India Congress Committee i n January, 1949. The

i

resignation was a c c e p t e d by t h e Qovernor t o t a k e effect

from t h e a f t e r n o o n o f 2 4 t h January, 1949. The Hon. Premier

.
of Madras State, O.P. Ramaswamy R e d d i e r had addressed a

l e t t e r of appreciation t o t h e M i n i s t e r . S r i K a l a Venkata Rao

and f o r the b e n e f i t of t h e House, i t was r e a d by B. Gopala

Reddy i n t h e l e g i s l a t i v e Assembly i n t h e a f t e r n o o n o f January

24, 1949. The t e n t o f t h e l e t t e r i s as f o l l o w s .

 " Dear f r i e n d ,

I cannot t e l l you w i t h o u t p o i g n a n t feeling of

130rrow. I have r e c o n c i l e d myself t o the loss which the

Cabinet s u f f e r by t h e acceptance o f your resignation which

t a k e s e f f e c t from to-day. On b e h a l f o f t h e C a b i n e t and on my

own behalf. I w i s h t o express my g r e a t a p p r e c i a t i o n of the

i n v a l u a b l e s e r v i c e s you have rendered t o t h e p r o v i n c e during

the twenty two months you have h e l d o f f i c e as Minister for

l a n d revenue. You have w r i t t e n y o u r name i n t h e i m p e r i s h a b l e

l e t t e r s i n the h i s t o r y of t h i s p r o v i n c e by t h e a d m i r a b l e way

in which you have successfully piloted the Zamandari

flbolition P i l l . W i t h t h i s f e a t h e r i n y o u r cap, you b i d fair

t.o win greater d i s t i n c t i o n s i n t h e wider f i e l d of service

open t o you i n your o f f i c e . While my h e a r t f e e l s t h e wrench

of s e p a r a t i o n from such a w i s e and sagacious colleague and

esteemed f r i e n d , I can o n l y f i n d c o n s o l a t i o n i n t h e f a c t t h a t

you w i l l h e r e a f t e r u t i l i s e your g r e a t t a l e n t s and abilities

for t h e l a r g e r good o f t h e c o u n t r y as a whole. I wish you

God speed i n y o u r new t a s k . May Bod g r a n t you s t r e n g t h and

wisdom t o d i s c h a r g e e f f i c i e n t l y t h e onerous responsibilities

of y o u r h i g h o f f i c e and i n s p i r e you t o render selfless and

devoted s e r v i c e t o t h e c o u n t r y .

With regards.

Yours s i n c e r e l y ,
69
Sd/ 0.P.Ramaswamy Reddier.

From J a n ~ t a r y . 1919 t o September, 1951, he was t h e General

 Secretary of the I n d i a n N a t i o n a l Congress. In the next

Congress Presidential election held i n 1951, Acharya

Kr-ipalani and P u r u s h o t t a m Das Tandon contested with each

other. It was a keen c o n t e s t and t h e two great leaders#

Jawaharlal Nehru and S a r d a r P a t e 1 were supposed t o be the

real contestants behind the scenes5 propping up their

candidates. Many s p e c u l a t i o n s were c u r r e n t i n D e l h i on the

previous n i g h t as t o how t h e e l e c t i o n r e s u l t was 1ik.ely to

turn out, and i n t h e end, P u r u s h o t t a m Das Tandon was d e c l a r e d .

elected. T h a t d i s p l e a s e d J a w a h a r l a l s o much t h a t he could

keep up ' f a c e ' o n l y w i t h much s e l f restraint. The strange

thing was t h a t w h i l e P a t t a b h i was dropped f r o m the working

commit.tee, h i s p r o t e g e K a l a Venkata Rao was t o c o n t i n u e as a

General Secretary. 0 few months a f t e r t h e new P r e s i d e n t t o o k

over, i t became known t h a t J a w a h a r l a l c o u l d n o t b e n r w i t h t h e

Secretaries. So he demanded t h e i r r e s i g n a t i o n . but Tandon

did not agree. Thereupon Nehru r e s i g n e d f r o m the Working

Committee. I t became n e c e s s a r y f o r Tandon, the President, to

resign so t h a t Nehru c o u l d be appeased. Thus, Nehru pitch

torked himself i n t o Presidentrhipi e a r l i e r Secretarieu Who

L

became o b n o x i o u s t o h i m were d i s m i s s e d i n c l u d i n g K a l a Venkata

Rao .66 Immediately after his arrival at Madras, he was

offered t h e p o s t o f H e a l t h M i n i s t e r by t h e Chief Minister,

Kumar Raja. He a c c e p t e d t h e o f f e r and h e l d t h e post from

September, 1951 to February, 1992. He served on two

Committees i.e.. as a member of the Select Committee

appointed to c o n s i d e r t h e Madras F o r e s t (emendment) Bill,

 07
1951 ( 1 - . A m H i l l No.27 of 1951). and a s a member of Joint

Se=lect Committee appninted t o cnrlsider t h o Madraw Medical

hO
t i ~ : ? ( : ~ i ~ ; t . r ~ l t : i . ~~: ~
~ ~I I' Ibc ; ? I I ~ ~ ~ 1 :I.,
V Ij I. ~ ~ I I 1,5'51.
~~, (.be r ~ l i . r ~ l . ~ e.far'
te~-t w a l t h ,

he tried for t h e development o f the Hospitals i n the State.

HE encouraqed post arad~rate research i n three subjects

obstetrics and Gynaecoloqy. Anatomy and Venereal

69
diseases. A11 t h o s e s t t i d e n t s and d o c t o r s who w e r e d e s i r o u s

of dc~inq r e s e a r c : h work w e r e g i v e n f a c i l i t i e s f o r these

7 1):
post. a r a d u a t e c o u r s e s .

As a Minister. he had t h e p a t i e n c e and understanding to

li.sten t o t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i . o ~ - 1 smade t o t1i.m by the opposition

O f t e r independance. t h e f i r s t q e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s were h e l d

i n 1952. K:ala V e n k a t a Hacr who cc~ntested as a Conaress

candidate f o r t h e Madras l e q i s l a t i v e assembly from Amalapu-

ram d o u b l e member c o n s t i t u e n c y was d e f e a t e d by N.Ramabhadra

Haju o f k:i.san Mazdnor F ' r a j a p a r t y , who b e l o n g e d t o F'rakasam

aronp v r i t l i a t ~ i qn l a r q i r ~o f 32,962 votes. I t was the fi,rst

and ldst defeat i n h i s l i f e time. He was n o t t h e o n l y candi-

date who was d e f e a t e d a t t h e p o l l s . The o t h e r leaders and

M i n i s t e r s l i k e H.Gopala Heddy. K.Chandramouli and V.Kurmaiah

were a l s o defeated. N.San.jeeva h'eddy , t h e Presi.dent of the

Praderr-h C o n a r e s s C o m m i t t e e met a s i c n . i l a r f a t e i n t h e h a n d s o f

h i s brother-in-law. Tarimala Naqireddy. a prominent. l e a d e r i n

71
Comnn..in.is.t p a r t y . The m a i n r e a s o n o f t h e i r d e f e a t was that

the,/ had l o s t t h e ctuc!d-wil I, and c o n f i d e n c e of the public

because t h e y h a d removed Prakasam by s p o n s o r i n g n o - c o n f i d e n c e

I I I ~ ~ ~ C J w
~ I. i t h o i . l t ~ t a t i n t j,3nv reason.; or- ctiar-qes aaainrst tlim,

just because they manoeuvr?red t o g a i n a few more votes.

Secondly, F'rakasam and others raised aqainst them many

zer.io~us allegations of miause of public funda and

'72
qovernmental a u t h o r - i t y . F ' a t t a b h i ' s g r o u p came o u t w i t h a l l

venoence t o b r i n q c e r t a i n c h a r q e s a a a i n s t Prak.asam. People

wlsre Ted u p w i t h t h i 3 a t t i t u d e . Prakasam t o o was defeated

from Madras. Ranqa's party C::rishiCar LoC party lost

miserably. Majority of t h e s e a t s w e r e won by Communists i n

'73
C i r c a r d i s t r i c t s and C o n p r e s s i n H a y e l a c e e m a .

M e a n w h i l e R n d h r a S t a t e was f o r m e d on t h e 1 s t O c t o b e r , 1953

and Tanquturi F'rakasam F'antulu became the first Chief

mini st:^^ o f Rndhra S t a t e . H i s Government r e m a i n e d i n office

from O c t o b e r 1, 195.3 t o November, 1 9 5 4 u n t i l i t was removed

from o f f i c e by n o c o n f i d e n c e m o t i o n . M i d t e r m e l e c t i o n s were

held i n June, 1755. b l a Venkata Rao was elected t o

the legislative Assembly Prom Kothapeta constituency of

Eonaseema. Bezawada G o p a l a Heddy f o r m e d the Government on

July 1st 1955. Kala Verikata Rao became Minister for

planning. lie was also allotted Industries and Public

7 4.
health. As m i n i s t c r for- p l a n n i n q , he drew u p a p l a n f o r each

viliaqe though i t could not be implemented for various

reasons. The p l a n r e v e a l e d n o t o n l y the interest h e had i n

the u p l i f t of rural f o l d but a l s o h i s qrasp of the problems

75
crf t h e poor l i v i n q i . r ~ t h e r u r a l ar-eas. He a p p e a l e d t o a l l
political partiies t o co-operate with Government .for the

successful implementation o f t h e second f i v e y e a r p l a n . On

Advisory body was c o n s t i t u t e d t o a d v i s e t h e Government for

State planning. and Rupees 3 5 c r o r e s was a l l o t t e d for the

i.ndustries d u r i n q t h e second f i v e y e a r p l a n . Olase factory

a t Gudur was d e v e l o p e d and N a t i o n a l e::tension programme was

76
implemented i n i 6 O W v i 1 l n q e s . He s a i d t h a t Oovernment was

ready t o h e l p t h o s e p e o p l e who came f o r w a r d w i t h 50 percent

of t h e share c a p i t a l f o r t h e establishment of medium sized

industries. He was responsible for the development of

Hospitals i n the State. He l a i d f o u n d a t i o n stones for a

number of Hospitals i n the State. Sri Kolluri Subba Rao

memorial Hmerican Hospital at Amalapuram was one among

77
t,hem. He increased seats i n the medical colleges of

Visakhapatnam and Ountur f r o m 85 t o 110 and from 50 to 35,

respectively. Pathology department was opened i n

Visakhapatnam medical College. He s t a r t e d three Honorary

Medical U n i t s i n Visakhapatnam. Under p u b l i c H e a l t h M e d i c a l

Head, Rupees 8 crores was sanctioned for new schemes.

Malaria eradication units were opened i n tribal areas.

F a m i l y p l a n n i n g c l i n i c s were opened i n a number o f places i n

the State i n 1956. He t r i e d t o root out corruption i n

78
tiospitals.

Hndhra Pradesh was formed on November 1 s t 1956 by the

Reorganisation of States act. N.Sanjeeva Keddy was elected

leader of t h e m a j o r i t y p a r t y i n t h e Assembly and formed the

gpver-nment w i t h 13 m i n i s t e r s . B a l a Venl.ata Kao was allotted

Finance. S t a t e Insurance. Commercial t a x e n and l a n d reforms.

Althouqh his health was n o t altogether satisfactory, he

agreed t o cerve i n the Cabinet a t the request o f N.Sanjeeva

Reddy, the Chief Plinister of Andhra Pradesh. and he

79
s h o u l d e r e d a v e r y heavy r . e s p o n . ; i b i l i t v .

The Cabinet was r e s h u f f l e d on March 3 1 s t 1958 and Kala

Venkrcta Rao becamr. Revenue Minister. He was allotted

Revenue. land r e f o r m s and e x c i s e . He h e l d this portfolio

till his d e a t h on t h e 2 8 t h . 1959. He h e l d the portfolias

a0
entru!;ted t o him e f f i c i e n t l y . He had made deep study of

co--opc!rat.ive f a r m i n g methods adopted by China and systems of

land holdinqs i n other parts of the world w i t h a view ta

acc:elerate the progress n f land reforms i n the State. He

w i l l a l w a y s be r e u a r d e d a s one o f t h e p i o n e e r s i n t h e sphere
8 1.
o f l a n d reforms i n South I n d i a .

FJ.Sanjeeva Reddy , t h e Ct1ie.f M i n i s t e r o f Clndhra Pradesh

while paying tributes to l a t e Kala Venk.,ata Rao in the

legislative Assembly on March 28th 1959 mentioned Kala

Venkata R a o as ' h i s friend, p h i l o s o p h e r and g u i d e ' . He said

that he had t h e p r o u d p r i v i l e g e o f having been associated

with that c o l o s s u s f o r more t h a n two decades and used to

marvel a t t h e keenness o f his intellect. the brilliance of

his analytical argumen t s and cogency i.n h i s t h o u g h t p r o v o k i n g

replies. He i n t r o d u c e d t h e scheme o f Zamindari. a b o l i t i o n i n

the Madras S t a t e . Each one o f t h e C i r c u l a r s which used to

emanate from h i s hands as t h e Conqress G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y was

the outcome o f t h e d e t a i l e d and c o m p a r a t i v e study of the

subject. Indeed, some of them had been the subject of

d i s c u s s i o n even i n t h e P a r l i a m e n t o f England. Sanjeeva Reddy

likened k l a Venkata Rao t o a l o d e s t a r and s a i d t h a t he had

the r a r e q u a l i t y of c o m p l e t i n g any a r d u o u s t a s k e n t r u s t e d to

him w i t h ease and g r a c e , what o t h e r s s h o u l d l e a r n from his

l i f e was the
d i s c i p l i n e d way i n w h i c h he controlled the
8--2
activities i n his life.

H I S ROLE I N THE FORMTION OF AN-

The p a r t p l a y e d by K a l a Venkata Rao i s n o l e s s ! s i g n i f i c a n t

i n t h e f o r m a t i o n o f Andhra S t a t e i n O c t o b e r . 1953. He j o i n e d

hands w i t h G.Kaleswara Kao and T.Prakasam p a n t u l u who tried

for the formation o f Andhra State. These leaders were

convinced that interests o f Gndhras cannot be protected

except i n a separate State.

Whi1.e p r e s i d i n g o v e r t h e U J i , ( T e l u q u New Y e a r ) function

organized by t h e Gndhra A s s o c i a t i o n o f S e c r e t a r i a t held at

F o r t St.Jorge Jus t h e a t r e on G p r i l 1 1 t h . 1948 a t Madras, Kala

Venkata Rao. Revenue M i n i s t e r o f Madras S t a t e hoped t h a t the

ne::t U d f u n c t on would be h e l d i n Andhra S t a t e . W h i l e . he

was s p e a k i n g on t h e o c c a s i o n , he gave t h e s t a t i s t i c s o f the

A n d h r a ! ~w o r k i n g n Secretariat. O u t of 800 employee. working

in the Secretar a t , o n l y 170 employees were Gndhras. That

was only 26 p e r c e n t o f the t o t a l posts. According to the

population, Ondhras s h o u l d g e t a t l e a s t 40 p e r c e n t of the

total posts. He s u p p o r t e d t h e r e o r g a n i s a t i o n of States on
83
1l.nquintic linns. H i s endnavourm t.owardn t h e . f o r m a t i o n of

a l i n g u i s t i c State of Andhra a r e n o t t o be censured a s they

were in conformity w i t h the general

trend of linguistic
84
regionalism p r e v a l e n t i n I n d i a a t t h a t time.

The A l l I n d i a Congress Committee a p p o i n t e d a three man

committee consisting o f Pattabhi, P a t e 1 and Nehru t o report

on the necessity o f the formation of Andhra State. Kalr

Venkata Rao h e l p e d t h e members o f t h e Committee to prepare

the report w h i c h was known as J.V.P Report. J.V.P Report

s u g g e s t e d t h a t Andhras s h o u l d g i v e u p t h e i r c l a i m s t o Madras

if the Andhr-a p r o v i n c e were t o be formed. To examine this

r e p o r t a p a r t i t i o n c o m m i t t e e was a p p o i n t e d . K a l a Venkata Rao

85
and T. Prakasam were on t h e Committee. It i s quite

u n f o r t u n a t e t h a t t h e two Andhra L e a d e r s , K a l a Venkata Rao and

T. Prakasam d i d n o t have i d e n t i c a l v i e w s even on v i t a l i s s u e s

concerning the interests of Andhras i n composite Madras

State. They used t o e x h i b i t t h e i r pettiminded group p o l i t i c s

on every i s s u e and t h e r e b y harmed t h e interests of their

people u n w i t t i n g l y .

Consequently on March 31st. 1949 i n the election . f o r

leadership of Congress L e g i s l a t u r e P a r t y , Kumaraswamy Raja

with the support of the Pattabhi group defeated

Dr.P. Subbarayan who had t h e b a c k i n g o f t h e Prakasam group.

Negotiations o v e r t h e number o f p l a c e s i n t h e first Andhra

Ministry t o be g i v e n t o Prakasam g r o u p . f a i l e d . The Andhra

provincial Congress Committee demanded a judicial inquiry

into t h e charges a g a i n s t t h e Madras M i n i s t e r s such as Kala

Venkata Rao, R.Gopala Reddy and o t h e r s o f F a t t a b h i qruop. To

complicate the issue further. t h e Tamilnadu Congress looked

a t t h e q u e s t i o n as a T a m i l v e r s u s - Telugu i s s u e . and wanted

a p r o b e i n t o a l l t h e charges a g a i n s t a l l t h e Madras M i n i s t e r s
86
since 1946. F o r t y o f t h e s e v e n t y Gndhra l e g i s l a t o r s s a i d

to belong to t h e P a t t a b h i group and supporters of Kala

Venkata Aao r e q u e s t e d Nehru and P a t e 1 t o form the Andhra

S t a t e by January 26.1950 and p l a n s were t h e n f i n a l i s e d a s to

who s h o u l d be i n t h e new C a b i n e t : K a l a Venkata Rao s h o u l d be

the first Chief M i n i s t e r of Gndhra and S.F.Mukergee was

t h o u g h t o f a s t h e Governor. T.Frakasam F a n t u l u s u b m i t t e d his

dissenting note t o t h e P a r t i t i o n Committee r e p o r t at this

juncture out of f e a r t h a t i f t h e new province was formed

then, h i s g r o u p would l o s e i t s h o l d on b o t h t h e ministerial

and t h e o r g a n i a a t i o n a l w i n g s i n Andhra. So t h e w h o l e issue

came t o be bogged i n that dilemma o f t h e Andhra, whether

to have the province w i t h o u t Madras o r to wait a more

.f a v o u r a b l e opportunity in future. When the Oovernment

shelved the issue, Prakasam complained t o P a t e 1 t h a t P a t t a b h i

and ., kala Venkata Rao, t h e P r e s i d e n t and Secretary of , the

Congress respectively were interfering in the bdhra

87
provincial Congress Committee affairs. Had .
T Prakasam

accepted the r e p o r t o f the p a r t i t i o n comittee, Kala Venkata

Rao would have become t h e f i r s t C h i e f Minister of Andhra

88
State.
 Kala Venkata Rao m e n t i o n e d a b o u t t h e Andhra province i n

fix. Madras leaislative Assembly on March 3rd 1950 while

participating i n t h e G e n e r a l d i s c u s s i o n on t h e Budget f o r t h e

year 1950-51. He said t h a t he had interest i n Andhra

p r o v i n c e p e r s o n a l l y and a l s o a s an Andhra. He r e g r e t e d that

it was v e r y u n f o r t u n a t e due t o c i r c u m s t a n c e s beyond their

c o n t r o l t h e y had n o t been a b l e t o a c h i e v e t h a t on January 26,

1950. and added t h a t i t p a i n e d them r e a l l y , and personally

speal:.ing he d i d n o t f e e l t h a t t h e r e was any j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r

the postponement of the formation of the province.

Sometimes, i t was f e l t t h a t i t would be a moth e a t e n p r o v i n c e

that i t was b e i n g e v o l v e d . P u t he f e l t t h a t i f t h e y wanted

to c r e a t e a p r - o v i n c e a c c o r d i n g t o t h e c o n d i t i o n s imposed on

them by t h e Government o f I n d i a and t h e Working Committee, it

was beyond t h e c a p a c i t y o f anyone b i g o r s m a l l t o b r i n g into

beinq t h a t p r o v i n c e e x c e p t by compromise. He advised that

they must be r e a s o n a b l e and s i t r o u n d a t a b l e and come to

some conclusion. The p r o b l e m was not insoluble i f they

continue their efforts. With the good-will that was

p r e v a i l i n q between them. ~t would be p o s s i b l e t o a r r i v e a t a

*'.
Compromise f o r m u l a w h i c h t h e Government o f India dared not

reject. He a p p e a l e d t h r o u g h t h e members o f t h e House t o the

Treasury benches t o t a k e s u c h s t e p s a s t h e y deem necessary

t o p u s h on w i t h t h e work o f c r e a t i n g a separate province and

s a t i s f y t h e Government o f I n d i a about t h e c o n d i t i o n s imposed

for the creation o f the province. He said that he was

certain t h a t e v e r y member o f t h a t House w o u l d stand behind

t h e Government i n o r d e r t o a c h i e v e t h e o b j e c t w h i c h was dear

R9
t o one and a l l o f them.

The a d v e n t o f t h e Andhra S t a t e and t h e l a t e r f o r m a t i o n of

a number of new S t a t e s based more o r less on linguistic

a f f i n i t y would n o t have become p o s s i b l e b u t f o r t h e t e r r i f i c

heart rending and supreme s a c r i f i c e made by that noble

Andhra. P o t t i S r e e r a m u l u who f a s t e d u n t o d e a t h i n 1952 o n the

issue. S r e e r a m u l u ' s d e a t h and i t s i m m e d i a t e s e q u e l c o m p e l l e d

the Central Cabinet i n t o hasteninq t o declare i t s readiness

t o f o r m t h e Andhra S t a t e and t o a p p o i n t a Committee t o study

t h e whole q u e s t i o n o f r e o r q a n i x a t i o n o f S t a t e s . Clt l a s t the

90
n n d h r a S t a t e was formed o n O c t o b e r 1 s t 1953.

tala Venkata Rao was p o p u l a r l y c a l l e d by the t i t l e of

'Chanakya' i n Andhra p o l i t i c s . When t h e H i n d u Correspondent

at b:'akinada t o l d h i m a b o u t i t many y e a r s ago, Kala Venkata

Nao r e p l i e d t h a t i t was n o t news t o hi,m. He s a i d t h a t many

friends used to call him t o h i s face by the t i t l e of

Chanakya. B u t t h a t he h i m s e l f d i d n o t f e e l any e x u l t a t i o n o r
91
s h y n e s s when s t y l e d "Andhra Chanakya".

K a l a Venkata Fiao was a p e r s o n who knew h i s j o b and how to

do it. He was p r o f i c i e n t i n t h e a r t o f political schemes,

intriques and manipulations. So much s o he was known ma

Y2
&para, Chanaky a. R. Gopal Reddy, K a l a V e n k a t a Rao, K.
Chandramouli. M. Pallamraju and others who belonged to
i112
P a t t a b h i g r o u p d i d n o t f i n d b e r t h s inLMadras M i n i s t r y headed

by T. Prakasam i n 1946. R. Gopala Heddy, an important

Congress leader of findhra who aspired for the Chief

M i n i s t e r s h i p t r i e d h i s b e s t w i t h t h e h e l p o f K a l a Venkata Rao

t o d i s l o d p e Prakasam f r o m t h e S t a t e l e a d e r s h i p . F i n a l l y they

had succeeded i n removing Prakasam by sponsoring no-

confidence motion against h i s Ministry. The schemes and

manipulations of K a l a Venkata Hao h e l p e d P a t t a b h i group to

d e t h r o n e t h e F'rakasam M i n i s t r y . While c r i t i c i s i n g t h e a c t i o n

of K a l a Venkata Rao, K r i s h n a P a t r i k a d e s c r i b e d i t as Vrudda

Simham J o o h L a q i n a K a l a ( K a l a has shaken t h e mane o f the old

lion)?'That o l d l i o n was n o o t h e r t h a n Prakasam. F'rakasam was

known as f h d h r a K e s a r i . K e s a r i i s a T e l u g u word which means

lion.

After his removal, T.Prrk.asam while speaking i n the

Madras legislative flssembly stated that as he did not

accommodate an e v i l g e n i u s i n h i s m i n i s t r y . he had to lose

his Chief Ministership. T h a t e v i l g e n i u s was n o o t h e r than

K a l a Venkata Rao. Had T.Prakasam i n d u c t e d K a l a Venkata Rao i n

his Ministry i n the beginning, he would have been a

94
successful Chief M i n i s t e r i n Madras S t a t e .

The m a c h i n a t i o n s o f K a l a Venkata Rao were amply rewarded '

by Dr. P a t t a b h i Sitaramayya, the President of t h e 011 India

Congress Committee by a p p o i n t i n g h i m t h e G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y o f

Congress i n January, 1949. N.G.Ranga, the Kisan leader i n

the Cnnoress alleged t h a t g a l a Venkata Rao qave up the

p o w e r f u l Revenue M i n i s t e r s h i p i n t h e hope o f d i s l o d g i n g them

from t.he A.P.C.C leadership throuah hi% influence and

m a c h i n a t i o n s as t h e G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y o f A I C C . He complained

that Dr.Pattabhi and K a l a Venkata Rao who had been opposing

him and his followers eversince 1931, continued their

95
nerve-racking guerilla political warfare against them.

Elections f o r Andhra Congress Committee were h e l d i n fipril,

1951. N.G. Ranga who had a l r e a d y been the President of

Fradesh Congress c o n t e s t e d a g a i n and was opposed by Neelam

Sanjeeva Reddy . Kala Venkata Rao could tactfully brinq

District Congress Committee together i n West Godavari

District. Kala Venkata Rao and o t h e r s made promises to

people ur~scrupulously. Kala Venkata Hao stated that he

recruited a lakh of p e o p l e a s members o f congress p a r t y and

r e m i t t e d t o t h e p a r t y a c c o u n t a membership f e e o f four annas

each from the amount he collected from the business

organigations. The c u l m i n a t i n g achievement o f K a l a was that

2 3 e l e c t e d members from G u n t u r who would have s u p p o r t e d Ranga

group could not take part i n that election, owing to the

injunction o r d e r s o b t a i n e d by h i s f r i e n d s f r o m the Courts.

Ranga who was h o p e f u l t o w i n w i t h a m a j o r i t y o f 7 v o t e s , had

met d e f e a t w i t h a m a r g i n of 4 votes. Thus,Kala's game had

won t h e day. Kandula Obul Reddy o f Hanga's group could not

96
match h i m s e l f t o t h e machinations of K a l a Venkata Rao.

His schemes and m a n i p u l a t i o n s were w e l l known to the

people of Andhra a g a i n i n t h e n e x t Presidentbal elections.

Soon a f t e r P.Gopalar-eddy became t h e C h i e f M i n i s t e r i n 1955,

the P r e s i d e n t o f Andhra Congress was t o be e l e c t e d . Alluri

Satyanarayana R a j u was t h e c a n d i d a t e f r o m Snnjceva Heddy's

group and Ranga was t h e opponent. Ranga was away touring

abroad. Inspite of G.Lachanna's and K.Obu1 Reddy'a best

efforts, Ranqa l o s t t h e e l e c t i o n as R.Gopala Heddy c o u l d not

a s s e r t i v e l y h e l p him. K a l a Venkata Rao, K-Prahmananda Reddy

and K . Chandramouli d i d see Ranga's d e f e a t w i t h b e s t o f their

maneuvers. SanJeeva Reddy and Gopala Reddy s t a y e d back from

97
voting. The whole s t r a t e g y was f r o m K a l a Venkata Rao.

The p a r t p l a y e d by K a l a Venkata Rao i n t h e elections of

West G o d a v a r i d i s t r i c t was u n f o r g e t t a b l e . There was a keen

contest between R a d e t i Venkata Ramayya o f J u s t i c e p a r t y and

Dandu Narayana R a j u o f Congress. K a l a Venkata Hao camped in

West Godavari d i s t r i c t f o r t h r e e months and by his schemes

and m a n i p u l a t i o n s g o t t h e Congress c a n d i d a t e Dandu Narayana

98
Raju elected. He came t o be known a s Chanakya.

HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE DMLOPt€NT OF K C U W S B W

The c o n t r i b u t i o n o f K a l a Venkata Rao t o t h e development o f

Konaseema i s remarkable. He t r i e d f o r a l l r o u n d development

of Konaseema. He promoted p o l i t i c a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s among the

people of Konaseema. I t was because o f K a l a Venkata Rao,

Konaseema occupies very important place in the political

h i s t o r y of Andhra Pradesh. Amalapuram w h i c h i s t h e c e n t r e o f

Konaseema used t o be compared t o C::umbaknnam i n t h e m a t t e r of

 99
Machiavellian politics i n t h o s e days. Kala Venknta Rao

strode t h e p o l i t i c a l scene l i k e a c o l o s s u s and e n r i c h e d the

100
life of t h e p e o p l e t h r o u q h h i s many s i d e d c o n t r i b u t i o n s .

After the formation of Rajaji Ministry i n Madras i n 1937,

Kala Venkata Rao v i s i t e d s e v e r a l p l a c e s of Eonaseema along

w i t h M i n i s t e r s and b r o u g h t t o t h e i r n o t i c e t h e g r i e v a n c e s of

the people. The K a j a j i government announced moratorium on

Agricultural loans. T h a t a c t i o n reduced t h e grievances of

t h e people of t h i s area. Again i n 1959, the cyclone damaged

the crops i n Konaseema. The Government granted some

remission of l a n d revenue. I n b o t h t h e cases, Kala Venkata

Rao was r e s o n s i b l e f o r a l l t h e h e l p they r e c e i v e d from the

101
Government .
l'.ala Venkata Rao would be remembered f o r ever by the

people of Konaseema f o r h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the improvement

of Communication system. Konaseema had remained w a t e r locked

and unconnected with mainland for a long time. Two

important bridges, one a t Alamur and a n o t h e r at Siddhantam

which were opened i n 1967 c o n n e c t e d Konaseema w i t h t h e root

of the district. K a l a Venkata Rao was r e s p o n s i b l e for the

102
construction of these i m p r o t a n t b r i d g e s .

His service to t h e people o f flood affected areas of

Konaseema i n 1955 i s u n f o r g e t t a b l e . Ninety f i v e v i l l a g e s of

Ama1sp1.1r-am e r s t w h i l e tal1.1k were nubmerqed i n G o d a v a r i flood

waters. Two lakh fifteen thousand acres of land was

inundated and crops were damaged.. When he was at

~ ~ I : ~ I ; . I ~ A I I 111-
I , I.:~IIII' t t ) ~IIC:IW I ' FInod lnvrl warn

raisinq a t Dowlaiswararn a n i c u t and f l o o d w a t e r had entered

Konaseema. K a l a Venkata Rao r u s h e d t o Konaseema by crossing

G o d a v a r i a t K o t i p a l l i by b o a t a t t h e r i s k o f h i s l i f e on the

m i d n i g h t of August 1 5 t h 1953. He g o t some amount g r a n t e d by

Konaseema Central Hank, Amalapuram f o r flood victims and

visited a l l the affected areas and food packets were

d i s t r i b u t e d t o the victims. He extended a l l t h e h e l p needed

103
d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d a l t h o u g h he was n o t i n power

He had s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t i n C o - o p e r a t i v e Movement. He was

h o n o r a r y S e c r e t a r y and P r e s i d e n t , Sree L:onaseema C o - o p e r a t i v e

C e n t r a l Bank L t d . , Amalapuram f o r a l o n g t i m e . He a l s o held

important posts like Director, Madras Provincial

C o - O p e r a t i v e Union; Andhra Sahakara Sammelan; Member, Madras

Committee on Co-Operation 1938-40; President, Madras

Co-Operative Bank Ltd., and member o f i t s executive. By

usinq h i s good o f f i c e s , he d e v e l o p e d Konaseema Co-Operative

C e n t r a l Rank and l o n g t e r m and s h o r t - t e r m l o a n s were granted

104
liberally to agriculturists.

He made efforts for the canstruction o f many projects,

canals. l o c k s and d r a i n s i n t h e konaseema Region. He worked

for the high level channel projects at Peravaram and

Rajawaram, i r r i g a t i o n schemes a t Sankaraguptam, Antarvedi,

Gangalkurru. Tadikanda. Komaragiripatnam. construction of

tidal locks of t h e Amalapuram and t h e Mukteswaram canals,

l o r r i g a d d a o u t .flow s l u i c e , t h e paravaram bund and bund trom

Y e n u q u p a l l i t o Vakalaqaruvu, and t h e d r a i n a g e schemes f o r t h e

improvement of t h e F'arichvati d r a i n . lower Gourika drain,

E ~ ~ n a v a r a md r a i n , drain above L o l l a lock, the Ramemwaram

105
drain, etc..

The extension of Antarvedi Channel, S a k h i n e t i p a l li

channel, Pillavari Channel, Munganda Potayalanka channel,

M a t t a p a r r u Channel. t h e d r a i n o f Fiazole e t c . , and o t h e r works

like Kadali, li:unavaram, Tatipaka, Manapalli, Razole,

Sivakodu, Goganamatam, Magatapalli, Mullikipalli. Ponnamanda,

Hori. Sak.inetipalli, Gudimola Kandrika, Antharvedipalem,

R n t h a r v e d i Uppalaguptam, Yakkalanka, Vadapalem. were some of

h i s achievements. Ttius,he
was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r b r i n q i n g about
106
5200 a c r e s o f land under c u l t i v a t i o n .

He was one o f the stalwarts i n the political field of

Ondhra Pradesh. He i s an unforgettable multifaceted

personality. Rs a man, h i s i n t e g r i t y was exceptional. He

was i n c o r r u p t i b l e and h i s p r i v a t e l i f e was impeccable. As a

p o l i t i c i a n he was a model f o r a l l s t a t e s t o f a l l o w .
1. E d i n g e r L e w i s J., t:urtS c hcrm a c her-,.

(Stanford. 1965). P.1.

2. K a l a V e n k a t a Rao , " J a i l Diary"

Personal L i b r a r y . Mukkamala.

9. M a l l a d i Narasimha D x a b h a k t a Ratna S r i K a l a

Somayajulu., V e n k a t a fiao Jeevita Charitra,

( Ama l a p u r a m , 1964 ) , F'. 10.

4. C:ala V e n k a t a Rao , 0P.CI.T.

.---

5. C::.P.Mal 1, i I ~ : a r j ~ ~ n a i s d L I ' K a l a -An Intellectual Patriot'

K a l a V e n k a t a Raci Smaraka S a n c h i k a .

E : r i s h n a Mur-thy . k (ed. ) .
(Havulapalem.l987), P. 72.

6. I n t e r v i e w w i t h V a d r e v u Jaga R a j u . A freedom f i g h t e r on

March l M , 1.787.

7. N.Sanjeeva Ready, " T r i b u t e s i n t h e Assembly"

I& ~&L&,!.I March 2 9 . 1959.

0. 1 - : . F 5 . 1 1 a 1 1 i k a r l u r ~ u d ~ ~ , OFILCLT
9. Madras State Legislature, 1-hs D i r e c t o r y gl the Madras

1950
.~~g-i~-l.~-t~~,ed p SZ,. .
11:). M a l l a d i Plar-asimha S o r n a y a j n l ~ l . CJF,'.CI.L. p.11.

11. K a l a V e n k a t a Kao , OP.CIT.

12. Ma1 l a d i N a r a s i m h a S o m a y a j u l u , OF.CIT,P.9 t

13. k a l a V e n k a t a Rao , o ~ ~ ~ 1 . r . .

14. Ma1 l a d i I\laras,imha S o m a y a j u l u , 0F':CIT. P.2'1..

15. .~
I b i d .. P.19
16. K.F-'.Mal l i k a r . j u n ~ ~ c I uO, , P , ~ , I _ T .

1.7 . " 1 ) 1. 1 In d i, ,a r:twlt:~

r.mc,q; lCm1111,i.
t t.rw !:;t a f f C o n r i n 1. encm

Resolution. " :!,& H a d y , M a r c h ?O. 1999.

3 The H.indu. M a r c h 29, 1959.

19. Lhid
I . !bid.,

21. I::ala V e n k a t a Rao, OF'.CIT._

?? !bid.

77
L>.
- 1t)id.
24 . Ib 1 i l
c
-%
LJ. 1I:lid.

26. L ~ I ,
27 . I,,bid,

33. Ittt.

29. g&d.
30. S.P.Sen (ed. ) . Q i c t i o n a r y of National Hioaraph~.

(Calcutta. 1974) Vol.IV,

.:ST. Thx H-iiu, M a r c h 29, 1959.

..L.
7 -, Madras Legislative Hssembly Debates. (Oct

Feb.1949) Vol.XVI1, PP 565 - 566.

-.
.:.... 7
B . F a t t a b h i Eitaramayya. ' K e e r t i Shesulu. S r i liala

Venkata Raa' r &la V e n k a t a &g Smaraka Sanchika,

K r i s h n a tlctrthy . e d . (Ravcrlapalern. 1987) P . 61.

'51. Goctthu L a t c h a n n a " T r i b c c t e " T h e 6.i.n-d~, M a r c h 31, 1959.

7
. r
Stanley &. Kochanek. The C o n a r ~ e s 3 of India: Tha

Dynamics o f u n e F a r t y ~ e m o c r a t c y,. ( P r i n c e t o n , l968), P.248.

Z6. I&. f l . . ~ ~ - dM~ a~ r.c h 29. 1959.

Z7. M-gdras L e q i s l a t i y e Q s s e m b l . ~ebati.. (July - Sept.1937)

Vol.1 and V o l . IT, F.4.

3n. IU.
39. I j ~ b ,P.29. vol. III. F'..x66, vol. v. T"F.i(:)Z - 249.

v o l VI II, F'P.~I:W - 413. - 501,

F'T-'.SC~ Voi . XI. ~'p.417

- 579, P.978, Vol. XII, F.355, Vol.XIII, P.249.

4:. u,u.
41 I_bJL(March, 19.70). V o l . V . F'F.184 - 188.

42. I t . . (July - Sept.19461 Vol. 11. F'P.105 - 106.

43. Lb~,,F:'P.357 - 398.

44. ul,i-gcl.. , P. 6 2 1 .
45. The
-, Hindu. M a r c h 29,1959

46. -M a d r a-.s -L--e. g i s l..a.t ..i v e ~~

Assemb
.
l y Debates. (Jan.1939). Vol. IX.

F'P.457 - 450.

47. Ihid., (July - Sept. 1946 ) . Vol. 11. P.103.

40. IKala V e n k a t a Rao," Notes on Fundamental R i g h t s " (Unpub-

l i s h e d Personal f i l e ) , Mukkamaln.

49. M.Rhairkavatsalam, " A Massage" S r i K a l a Venk.ata R a o S m a r a -

--
La SanchiLa, Krishna Murthy. K (ed. ) ? (Ravulapalem,

1 9 8 7 ) ,P.19.

50. Esdras L e g i s l a t i ~ e . . . ~ s s e m bDl e~b a t e s . (Sept - Oct. l947),

Vol. VI, F.634.

-
581.
c
-IL.
- I_bA..

Lid. I
V01. VI. PP.061

( 1 9 4 8 ) . V o l .XU,
863.

F.74.

3 . I_bl.. (Mar - Qpr 1 9 4 7 ) V o l . V. F.596.

 I h i d . P. 599.

I~.~.id..(fiuuust.
--Sept. 1940) Vol . XI'J. P. 2 ~ 4 .

!hid . ,P .:l;t35.
Ibid..
..... (Oct. 1748 - Feb. 1949.). Vol. XVII, F.52~.

J.S.Uppa1, " R g r a r i a n S t r u c t u r e o f Land Reforms i n I n d i a "

I,!?.d-i.j.'5. c . o . n o . m n ~Problems, ;I. S.Uppal (ed. ) . (New Del h i

. 1.98:3). F:'P.135-1Z7.

1.b d .
Ihid.
MK~L?~. L s ~ . i ~ ~ . . & LRv zei s e n l b l ~k b ? . t e s.... ( ~ u w s t - Sept.

1.94R). F'F.206-207.

1 . (Orit. 1948 - Feb. ,1747) P.76.

.I
..b
. . . i. .d
. ., P. 67.

The. t i l n d ~ ~March
. 29, 1959.

65. Madras L e q i s l a t i v e &semblv Deb.a.t.e.s.. ( Oct. 1948 - Feb

1949). V c ~ l . X V I I I , PF.539 - 540.

66. N. G .Ranga. Fi.gM f o r Freedom, ( D e l h i . 1968) , F'F. 3.30 - 332'.

67. Madr:,a~s,L-i.laJiv_e Assembly deb-, (Oct.l95.l),

'Jol. X I I ? P.29.

68. I.l!id.. F.372.

69. !hid.. F.233.

7 ih i d . . .
P 240.

71 . Iq . I n n a iah , F'oliLLc-5, for m e r , The.. ole of. CZ~.SLE and

factions
.... 1
n
-. -
A . F...................................
. 1881:)-1980, (Hyderabad 1781.). P.62.

72. N. G .Rangal OE'...CI.T.. . P. 379.

'73. N. Innaiah, C F L C ~ I...T F.58

74. &,d-r+&r-l,,ka,, March 3t)..t755.

75. ,The H i . ~ . d k ! , March 29, 1959.

'76. f.lr~fltw:a P$t~--,k,.g,, Opr-j. 1 , 1.3, 1.933.

77. Bb-d., J u n e l S . 1955.

78. Andhra L _ e g i s l a t i v e Clssembl,/ Deb_a.t.e,s.,, ( M a r c h 2Zr 1956)

Vol. V, F'P.426-434.

79. T
& .Hi_nd.u., March 29, 1959.

80. Y.V.Krishnarao and Y . R a l a Rarnamurty t e d s . ) , Andhra

-
Pradesh D a r s h i n i (1976 ) , P.620.

81. S.P.Sen(ed.), 0P.CIT. , P.404.

82. N.Sanjeeva Reddy, " The Tributes" The H i n d u , March 29,

lVW.

83. endhra Patrika-, April 12. 1948.

84. S. P .Sen (ed. 1 . OP .CIT, P403.

85. M a l l a d i Narasirnha Somayajulu. O U I . . , PF.99 - 100.

86. -. .- Jndian &xjress. May 12, 1949.

87. ,!bid., January, 14, 1950.

88. Ma1 l a d i Narasimha Sornayajulu, OP.CIT... , F). 100

89. Madras L e q i s l a t i v e AssernbA ,Debates, ( Feb. - Mar 1 9 5 0 ) ,

Vol. I , P.378.

9 0 N.G.Fianga, 0P.CIT. .. F'P.372 - 373.

91. The Hindu., March 29. 1959.

92. K. P. M a l l i k a r j u n u d u , 0P.CIT.. P.72

93. &:rishna P a t r i k a , Jan.12, 1952.

94. M a l l a d i Naraairnha Sornayajulu, OF.CIT., F.68

95. N.G.Ranqa, O.V,C.IT.. P.482.

96. N. I n n a i a h , O k C I T . , P.67.

97. I&d. . P. 69.

90. R r u m i l l i Venb:.ata~-atanam, "Na L)ri.tCpi\tharn L.o Kala Venkata

Ran" !;ri .~.La,a~ Ver1kat.a K+-o Eanch&:a. Y.rietina M u r t h y ,k:

(ed. ) . ( R a v u l a p n l e n ~ . 19W7) F.35.

97. l . b l ~ L . . M. Fihat:tavaksalam. ' 0 Massage'

1i:ICI. .
I_,h&,!J. P.Ramacliandran.

101. !.bbll.. . M.V.Phadram.

102. Ihid.,.Mu1 l a p ~ t d iS u r y a n a r a y a n a .
105. A ~ c J h r a F a t r i L g , A L ~ L 2I 4~. ~1 9 5 3 .

104. M a d r a s S t a t e L e g i s l a t ~ l r e . O_F'.CIT., F.54.

1155. K:ala V e n k a t a Flao, N o t e s p r e p a r e d i n 1938 "nn Irrigation

Schernes" F'P. 7-14, Personal L i b r a r y , M~~kkarnala.

1Clb. t. " L e g i s l a t i v e D i a r y ( 1937 - 1939), Personal Li-

brary. Mukkamala.