Walking With Destiny

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Walking with Destiny

By

Nadendla Bhaskar Rao


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Walking with DestinyNadendl a Bhaskar Rao

Second Edition

J une, 2011

Aut hor

P rice : Rs. 200/-

Publ i sher :

Sa rvadha rma Nilaya m, 245,

J ublee H ills, Roa d No.18

H ydera ba d - 500 033

P hone : 040-23608885

Cell : 9704608885

Pri nted at

Ka la J yothi P rocess P vt . Limited

R.T.C.X Roads, Mu sheera ba d

H ydera ba d - 500 020

P hone : 040-27645536.


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ii i

CONTENTS

1. WALKING WITHDESTINY 1-21

2. COLLEGE DAYSAND POLITICS 22-34

3. EARLY PHASE ASLAWYER 35-39

4. THEYOUTHCONGRESSDAYS 40-49

5. THEINDIRACONGRESS SURGE1978 50-66

6. BIRTH OF THEREGIONAL PARTY 67-88

7. TELUGUDESAM LANDSLIDE 89-99

8. REGIONAL PARTY IN THE SADDLE 100-120

9. STYLE OF FUNCTIONING-

WHIMSICAL DECISIONS 121-134

10. THEDOWNWARDSWING 135-185

11. TAKING OVER ASCHIEFMINISTER1984 186-201

12. SETTING THEHOUSE INORDER 202-215

13. AUGUST1984AND THE AFTERMATH 216-226

14. THECONGRESSHOME-COMING 227-250


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Why th is book ..

I c o m e f r o m a r e s p e c t a b l e f a m i l y o f

agriculturists from Guntur district . I enjoyed aflour ishing lega l pra ctice in Hydera ba d. The spirit

of service to fellow-beings is deeply ingrained in

me. It is this noble tra it t ha t ha s impelled me to

give up the lucra t ive pra ctice a nd join t he Congress

w ith its hoa ry t ra ditions a nd glorious history.

I dista nced myself from t he pa rt y a fter I ha d

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

growing at the expense of the organisation andbecoming too big for i t , leading to i ts gradual

eclipse. Personal agenda subordinated collective

pa rt y int erests. Recognising th e need for a regiona l

part y a ga inst t his depressing scena rio, I sow ed the

s eed fo r the b i r th o f the Te lugu D es am and

nur tured i t . H i s to ry repea ted here to o . Hero

worship, sycophancy, arrogance, ignorance and

other undesirable tendencies became the bane ofthe new pa rty .

As a self-respect ing ma n, I could not fit in t he

st ifling confines of th e Telugu D esam a nd r etur ned

to th e rela tively freer a tm osphere of t he Congress

party. I held many positions in the party -of an

chapter 1


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2 Walking with Destiny

ordinary worker, general secretary, MLA, MP,Minister and finally, of the Chief Minister. I had

never compromised on principles and values or

w a vered from t he right pa th. Nor ha d I mortga ged

the par t y o r Go v ernment in te res t s t o f av o ur

a nyone. I believed, in thought, w ord a nd deed, tha t

people, th e pa rt y a nd t he G overnm ent w ere a bove

the individual.

However, people with perverse mindset do

str a nge things. They betr a y you for t heir own ends,

level al legations, launch vicious campaign and

ma ke the righteous ma n a sa crificial a nima l. All

th ese ha ppened to me in much t he sam e ma nner.

I had silently suffered many wrongs. Many hard

truths, too shocking for people to understand, let

a lone digest, la y hidden in the dept hs of my hea rt .

A lifetime might not suffice to bring to light thehorrible fa ct s. I th ought I should at tempt t o blow

th e lid off at lea st some of them t o rebut a tt empts

to distort history. Hence, this modest effort.

In times of pain and anguish, books provide

o n e t h e m u c h - n e e d e d b a l m . H o w t r u e w a s

Mahakavi Dasaradhi . In those di f f icult t imes, I

confined myself to the library where the books

became my life-breath.

My childhood and early memories

I w a s born on J une 23, 1935 in t he Kugler

hospita l in G untur to P itcha iah a nd Venkaya mma .

There is an interes t ing s tory surrounding my



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name. My sister, Anasurya, was informed of theha ppy t idings a t the sun-rise, though I w a s born

the previous evening. Therefore, i t seems, she

na med me Bha ska ra Ra o a f ter t he Sun-G od.

Donepudi , a long t he ba nks of the Kr ishna , in

Kol lur mandal o f Guntur dis tr ic t i s my nat ive

village, seat of my childhood a nd ear ly educa tion.

It w a s once know n a s Drona puri. It boa sted of rich

a nd fert ile soils yielding a bunda nt ha rvest. I w a s

proud t ha t m y Donepudi basked in prosperity a nd

a ffluence. For th eir pa rt , th e people led a dha rmic

life, setting many example to others. Those days,

M a l a y a l a s w a m y o f Y e r p e d u a s h r a m , w h o d i d

penance in the caves of Tirumala, vis i ted our

villa ge as pa rt of his mission t o propaga te spiritua l

values among the masses . The God-man from

Kera la ha d set up 'Omkara shra m' on t he ba nks ofth e river a but ting our villa ge. His philosophy a nd

teachings had a strong and lasting influence on

my impressiona ble mind.

Those were da ys of th e Whit e Ma n's rule. Our

village of about 5,000, hardly had transport or

communication facilities. We lived in our small

world and regarded our school as the fountain of

ultima te know ledge an d w isdom. Old timers used

to say a ba g of pa ddy cost Rs t w o, but I remember

it as Rs 6 per bag. I also recollect Acharya N.G.

Ranga holding a meet ing in our v i l lage under

pet romax l amps and exhor t ing the f armers to

a gita te for Rs 10 a ba g.


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Portrait of village life

We had age-old Ramalayam and Sivalayam.

My fa ther, a n a rdent Ra ma bhakta , would ta ke us

to these temples on fest ive occa sions. A ha ndfu l of

rich fa rmers own ed hundr eds of a cres a nd lived in

big bunga low s. As w a s t he fashion t hose days, t he

prosperous f armers used to h i re capar i soned

elepha nt s, horses a nd camels belonging t o th e Ra ja

of Challapalli for marriage procession. It was a

thr illing experience. The shrewd Ra ja , who ow ned

large tracts of land in the vicinity, sold them off,

sensing w hich w a y th e socia l winds w ere blow ing.

P eople ra rely ventured out of th e village, be it for

studies or m a rita l a llian ces.

The Potharaju temple in the centre o f the

villa ge had a lwa ys fa scinat ed me. P eople used t o

perform abhishekam to him wi th 101 vessels

praying for rel ief from the oppressive heat of

Ro h in i k ar te mark ing peak s ummer . Lo and

behold. Rain would follow soon. My young mind

could not fa th om t he myst ery.

Facilities like electricity, telephone, radio etc

were post-independence developments that the

people of those days did not know or imagine. Arich landlord had a radio set powered by a 10-kg

ba tt ery. He would a llow us in to listen t o th e new s,

i f he were in good mood. The nearest rai lway

sta tion, B ha tt iprolu, w a s three miles a w a y a nd one

needed to walk all the way, whether one headed

for Kollur or Vellatur.


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Eco-conscious folk

Our village got high school, largely due to the

e f f o r t s o f P a m u l a p a t i V e n k a t a K r i s h n a i a h

Ch ow da ry, cha irma n of the district boa rd. He ca me

to our village with an offer to sanction it i f we

parted with five acres situated in the chinthala

topu (t a ma rind t rove). An elderly ma n in t he crowd

rose an d w a nt ed to know th e fa te of th e la rge flocks

of birds if t he t rees w ere ha cked. 'No. Tha nks', he

told him bluntly. As a young boy, I w a s a w itness

t o t h i s . L o o k i n g b a c k , I m a r v e l a t t h e e c o -

consciousness of the people of those days.

Kollur and Vellatur were witness to religious

a nd spiritua l act ivities due to the sizea ble presence

of Brahmins. In contrast, agriculture-dependent

Ka mma s a nd t he wea ker sections constitut ed thebulk o f D o nepudi po pul a t i o n . Each l i v ed in

isolation of the other with a sharp dividing line.

One could not even draw water f rom the wel l

belonging to t he other gr oup. My h a ppy childhood

was spent amid lush fields, canal bunds and the

ba nks of the Krishna w here I play ed an d frolicked.

I w a tched in child-like fa scina t ion a t t he school of

cra nes and other a via ns th a t f lew overhea d in eye-

ca tch ing format ion . The wonder ful spec tac le

rema ins eterna lly enshrined in my mind's eye. It

is a pity that the present-day children should go

to the zoo to watch the very birds that routinely

f lew over our sk ies . I am a l so amused a t the

innocence of today's grandchildren who want to


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see the rice tree! At the same, a nameless painalso bothers me.

The coming of the new agricultural season

a l w a y s f i l l e d m e w i t h g r e a t j o y . I t m e a n t

everyt hing new - fa rm w orkers, fa rm implements

and tools. I cherished those moments. Transport

fa cilit ies ha rdly existed. For us kids, the occa siona l

sight of a lorry w ith a coa l-fired boiler in our villa ge

w a s something w e never m issed. The poor clea ner

w o u l d t u r n t h e h a n d l e r e l e n t l e s s l y a s i f h i s

intestines would burst before the engine revved

up and roared. How we wished to start the lorry

a nd drive.

The karanam, munasabu and o ther v i l l age

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

neighbourhood, drawing a salary of f ive to tenrupees a month. It may sound ridiculous, but is

tr ue. Yet t hey led a respecta ble existence wit h t he

modest remuneration.

Discipline and tradition

My fat her, a ta skma ster, w ould w a ke us up a t

da w n a nd teach mat hema tics, in which I w a s never

too comfortable. I always wondered why did God

c r e a t e m a t h e m a t i c s ! I n c o n t r a s t h e c o u l d

effort lessly reel off mult iplica t ion t a bles in seconds .

It a ma zed me how he a nd t he people of his times

p e r f e c t e d t h e m . H o w d i d f a t h e r m a s t e r

ma thema tics? Here is a n interesting story. He ha d

a long t uft on the head w hich his tea cher tied t o



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the ceiling with a string. Whenever he bowed to

doze off, the str ing w ould t ug him ba ck, rendering

sleep impossible. Tha t w a s how t hey st udied under

a naked wick lamp and got by rote the complex

multiplications.

As with mathematics, so with the epics l ike

the Rama yana a nd the Maha bhara tha . My fa ther

w ould recite a ny num ber of sloka s a nd poems fromthem, to our great surprise and wonder. I feel

a sha med tha t I could not inherit a fra ction of his

ta lents .

There wa s a time-lag betw een sow ing a nd de-

w eeding opera tions w hen farm ers a nd la bour ha d

litt le w ork. They used to while aw a y t he free time

w ith song a nd gossip or r esolve pett y d isput es in a

rela xed at mosphere. They w ould busy t hemselvesentwining jute fibre to make ropes for the cots or

to dra w w a ter from t he w ell. Our village did not

have a hospital or a veterinary dispensary. The

conventional mode to treat a minor injury was to

w a sh it w ith urine! So much for our backw a rdness

and ignorance. These people were yet happy and

w ithout a ca re, proba bly beca use they lived in close

communion w ith n a ture.I st ill remember my school da ys a nd t eachers,

S u b r a h m a n y a m , K a n t h a R a o a n d t h e T e l u g u

tea cher from Repa lle wh ose na me I can not reca ll.

We nick-named him ' Dumuvulu mastaru'. He is

no more, but the pleasant memories linger. I am



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eterna lly gra teful to him a nd other tea chers. I sti l lr e m e m b e r t h e i r l e s s o n s . M y f a t h e r u s e d t o

cultivat e endow ment la nds a long w ith our ow n a nd

bought small pieces of additional land with the

sa vings. My fat her liked to ea t only ha nd-pounded

rice, a s did m ost people those da ys.

My G od-fea ring parents, fa ther in pa rticular ,

used t o be pre-occupied w ith puja a nd rit ua ls. We

ha d to sell a w a y our house as w ell a s lands a fter

father's business in foodgrains and turmeric in

partnership wi th Munagala Lakshmaiah led to

huge losses. We bought a smaller mud house on

the main road where we continued to live. Like

most women of the farming community, mother

used to be busy a ll day pa ving th e floor w ith cow

dung paste or milking the cow, making butter ,

feeding t he ca tt le a nd doing a host of oth er things.Fortunately, present-day women are spared this

ordea l beca use ha ssle-free cooking ra nge a nd other

gadge t s a re av a i l ab le r i gh t a t the i r do o rs tep .

Ramaiah, the village quack, used to effectively

treat us for any ailment by just feeling the pulse

a nd ma king th e right m edicine then a nd t here.

We used to partake in minor post-harvest

a ctivities for fun. I w onder if a poet ca n ma tch th e

underlying mood, the melody and the emotion in

the songs of the simple rural folk. While in the

fields, w e used t o w a tch cra nes flying in a uniqu e

'V' form a t ion. Their number used t o be inva ria bly

13. Strange!



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Our family

I a m t he youngest of four siblings. Ana surya ,

the f i rs t born, was marr ied to Pamidimukkala

B a lakota iah of Vella tur, a farmer wh o ma na ged a

rice mill too. My eldest broth er J a na rdha na Ra o

w orked in Revenue depa rt ment in Tela nga na w hile

Sri Ramamurthy, next to him, helped my father

in agr icul ture . Those were the days when bigfa rmers looked dow n upon sma ll fa rmers a nd t heir

children. It anguished our tender minds. People

were judged by the extent of the land owned and

the income ear ned. Things h a ve not cha nged much

since. We got out of such an unfortunate plight

w ith grea t difficulty.

I a nd my childhood pals, Rama Ra o, Subba Ra o

a nd C hittemma , would go to the privat e teacher,ca rry ing a la nt ern. Even a s w e grew u p, our school

w a s upgra ded into high school. One da y, my elder

b r ot h e r J a n a r d h a n R a o b r ou g h t h om e a

gra mophone. P eople of our a nd nea rby villa ges ha d

never heard of it. They would make a beeline to

our house to listen to the wonder-machine while

my fa ther proudly dec lared 'my e lder fe l low

brought it'.

I w a s cra zy a bout pet s - dogs a nd pigeons, a nd

longed t o ha ve them. Fa ced w ith a firm 'no' from

parents, I stole three rupees to fulfill my wish. I

put the pigeons in a tin box, but the cat made a

nice meal of a ll of th em. I w a s found gu ilty on t hree



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counts - stealing money, smuggling in the birdsa n d e x p o s i n g t h e m t o t h e c a t , a n d t h r a s h e d

roundly.

Andhra Kesa ri Ta nguturi P ra kasa m P a nthulu

was given a rousing reception on his visit to our

village. 'My God. What a felicitation', I wondered

as a ch ild . Lok Naya k J aya P rakash Nara yan w as

a l so welcomed in the same manner . He made

enquiries about our living conditions and sought

de t a i l s abo ut f a rming . NG Ranga and B hara t i

R a n g a , r e g u l a r v i s i t o r s , w o n o u r h e a r t s b y

identifying themselves with our problems. They

had a lasting impression on my tender mind.

Seeing the Mahatma

M y f a t h e r w a s a n a r d e n t C o n g r e s s p a r t y

follow er wh o once went a ll the w a y t o Ma dra s tolisten to G a ndhi a t t he Ma rina bea ch. Memory is

s t i l l g reen o f ho w he had ca r r i ed me o n h i s

s ho ulders f o r a da r s han o f Gandh i a t Tena l i

ra ilw a y st a tion. G a ndhi ca me to Tenali thr ice, each

time my father journeyed 20 miles to attend his

meetings. People glorified the sacrifices of the

freedom-fighters. Kolla Tayaramma, a pregnant

wo man o f Tena l i , s ho uted pa t r i o t i c s l o gans ,courted arrest and gave birth to the child in the

prison. Gandhi, who heard of this, called on the

bold la dy a t her house. History r evea ls tha t more

w o m e n f r o m T e n a l i h a d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e

na tiona list movement tha n from a ny other pa rt of

t h e c o u n t r y . G a n d h i t o u r e d T e n a l i a r e a t o



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compliment the bra ve women. The youth too w ereba ptized int o th e movement w ith vigour.

Veera ma cha neni Sa tya na ra ya na a nd Tiruma la

Rao, our relatives, used to work in Guntur on a

sa la ry of, it ma y a muse you, just Rs 20. They used

to commut e by t ra in. S ome people w ere of no non-

sense type. Believe it or not, the litigants would

go right up to the P rivy Council even on a fa rcica l

issue like the neighbour diverting rainwater into

the complainant's house! Sometimes I feel that

today's educated urban, in contrast , reconcile ,

ra ther tha n rea ct t o a ny situa tion.

I learn that we Nadellas had migrated from

Cha lla palli in K rishna distr ict to Donepudi on t he

o ther s ide o f the r iver . I a lways fe l t tha t the

surname 'Nadella' did not sound well and that

something was a miss. I made it 'Nadendla' , the

pla ce in K rishna distr ict from w here w e might ha ve

originated. Little did I or our people dream that

this very na me would one da y crea te a sensa tion

all over the country! While at Bandar, I had no

difficulty dining w ith t he B ra hmins, since th ey too

ha d this surna me.

My fat her wa s a devout G od-fea ring man w ho

a dhered to certa in principles a nd seldom h a rmed

anyone, even under provocation. Here is a story

a bout his tolera nce and ma gna nimity. An a rrogan t

farmer had egged on his well-fed bulls for a fight

w ith fath er's frail a nimal. Fa ther wa s shaken w hen

th e ba dly injured a nima l limped home a nd died a t



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his fee t . Ins tead o f conf ront ing the power fullan dlord or tu rning over th e ca rcass t o th e butcher,

he gave it an honourable funeral. The landlord

continued, unprovoked, his atrocities, driving his

cattle into others' fields or removing jingle bells

from their bulls. Soon, the farmer and the family

beca me paupers in th e sam e pla ce wh ere th ey held

bru t a l s way . My f a the r nev er u t t e red a wo rd

against them, secure in the knowledge that theLord Supreme was the ult imate judge and that

pride goes before fall. I , for one, did not know

w hether it w a s divine retribut ion or evil begett ing

evil.

The Power of Truth

At another time, I was stiff-scared to find a

deadly cobra swaying its hood right behind myfat her in the fields. Even a s he a ssured me th ere

was no th ing to fear , the snake s l i thered away

ca using no ha rm. I t w a s a mystery - a mystery I

could not unravel. We also had a ferocious stud

bull w hich w ould not a llow th e fa rm la bour or my

brothers to come a nyw here nea r, but w ould meekly

bow a nd go aw a y on seeing fa ther. My young mind

could never understand the phenomenon, but atthis stage I can only attribute it to the power of

Trut h, personified by the G od.

My fa ther used to borrow money t o meet fa mily

exigencies, for which a note was neither offered

nor asked. He would repay it on time even if the



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hea vens fell. Su ch w a s his reput a tion for honesty.Today's promissory notes are a direct fall-out of

the decl ine in moral and ethical values in the

society . Fun ny stories used t o do th e rounds in t he

High Court . I t seems that l i t igants would take

fingerprints of th eir vict ims w hile they w ere a sleep

under a tree shade and go to the court seeking

justice! Once bitt en, tw ice shy. S o goes the a da ge

.When the extra careful victims slept with theirhands wrapped in c lo th , the smar ter l i t i gan ts

w ould t a ke toe-print s! These stories could best be

f r a g m e n t s o f i m a g i n a t i o n , b u t a l l t h e s a m e

reflected the unhealthy trends like selfishness,

greed and corruption, creeping into the society.

When evil enters the mind, the man falls deeper

a nd deeper into the a byss. This is the eterna l trut h.

On August 15, 1947, we kids joyfully wentround the village on bullock carts festooned with

fla gs a nd buntings, a lthough we har dly knew w ha t

independence mea nt . The villa ge a tm osphere w a s

vibra nt w ith t he yout h enga ged in ca rt ra ce, cock-

f i g h t s e t c o n t h e o n e h a n d a n d i n p l a y i n g

badminton, kabaddi etc on the other. Gales and

storms were common to our river-side vi l lage

because of its proximity to the sea. They oftenpla yed havoc w ith t he ca tt le-sheds. It w a s heart -

rending to see dumb a nima ls perish in t he storm.

We used to relax with a book leaving the plough

and milch animals to graze in the fields. These

ha ppy ima ges alw a ys linger in m y mind. Who does

not treasure childhood memories?



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Marriage celebrations

T h o s e t i m e s w e r e d i f f e r e n t . W e d d i n g

processions for the bride and the groom featured

pa l anqu ins and menas ins tead o f c a r s . I t was

indeed a sight to see the bride taken round on

pa la nq uin w hile th e stu rdy bea rers cha nt ed 'ohom

ohom' to ease the burden of weight . Men and

women would flock to the see the newly-weds inthe grand procession and talk about i t for days.

Ma rria ges used t o last full f ive days w ith a lot of

f an fare and pomp unl ike today ' s hurry burry

a f f a i rs . R ich breakfas t , sumptuous lunch and

dinner were served. The middle class wedding

w ould be a th ree-da y a ffair. The poor w ould sa tisfy

themselves wit h a simple ceremony. S ome people

indulged in lavish spending on marriage for thesa ke of fa lse prestige a nd r uined th eir lives.

A relative had finalised marriage alliance in

n e i g h b o u r i n g K r i s h n a d i s t r i c t . O u r p e o p l e

entertained, for some reason, reservations about

alliances with that district. We from the groom's

party attended the marriage celebrated in great

style. Guests were served table meals with pure

ghee and mango juice, unheard of 60 years ago.

These people, we wondered, should be fabulously

rich a nd speculat ed a bout the hefty dow ry in t he

o f f ing . The h igh ly expec ted windfa l l fo r our

bridegroom w a s a mere seven a cres of not s o prime

land.



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Sa nkra nt i. The very mention of th is festiva l of

harvest conjures up colourful images of Rangoli

p a t t e r n s ( m u t y a l a m u g g u l u ) i n f r o n t o f t h e

courty a rd, passing visits by t he Ha ridasu singing

t h e p r a i s e o f S r i H a r i , o r n a t e l y d e c o r a t e d

Gangi reddulu (oxen) and the eager ly-awai ted

B uda bukkala va du. We children used to enjoy every

bit of w ha t w a s ty pica lly Telugu cultu re. Dressed

in the ma nner of Sa ge Nar a da, the Ha rida su wentround th e villa ge singing keert a ns in pra ise of th e

Lord and accepted humble of fer ings f rom the

people. Budabukkalavadu sported budabukkalu

(damarookam) which adorns Lord Siva. He used

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

between his pronouncements for the future.

We a lso ha d t hose da ys pellilla pera yya lu, ourow n version of ma tch-ma kers, who tra cked eligible

yo ung men and wo men in the a rea , g a the red

details and helped in finding suitable match for

th em. Wa shermen a nd ba rbers used to be pa id in

kind.

As a child, I enjoyed w a tching 'gudise pa da va Iu'

( house boa t) plying in th e ca na l. During t he Ra j,

the Englishmen used to come with famil ies toinspect t he ca na l bunds. These bunds w ould often

breach during the flood season. Large reservoirs

l ike Srisai la m, Naga rjuna saga r a nd Alama tt i did

not exist then to impound water. People would

watch in awe and fear as the swol len Krishna



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b r e a c h e d c a n a l b u n d s a n d c a u s e d e x t e n s i v eda ma ge to life a nd propert y. The B ritish officia ls

would live in the house boats and initiate action

to plug the breaches. All they expected from the

people w a s a chicken for their mea l. You ma y like

t o ca ll it br ibery or just a gestu re by people.

Visit by a policema n w a s a ra rity. There w a s

hardly any need for him since no offences were

reported. But when a constable did appear, the

villa ge elders w ould get up t o greet him. The elders

w ould bow r espect fully a nd g reet t op officia ls like

the collector with folded hands.

The Real Public Servant

Varma, a se l f less and transparent ly honest

ma n, t ook th e pains t o go to Tena li an d lobby w ith

th e engineers for a bridge a cross th e Krishna ca na la t D onepudi. B efore the bridge cam e, people used

to sw im across at grea t risk. Va rma ha d ea rned a

permanent place in their hearts. School teachers

ordered us to wa sh milch a nima ls or do minor fa rm

w ork for t hem. P a rents did not mind th is beca use

th e poor t eachers ear ned a mea gre Rs 10 to Rs 30

a month. It sounds funny that these people are

associated with the adage - 'if you cannot earn aliving, take up teaching'.

We kids feast ed on a va riety of sea sona l fruit

a nd enjoyed pla ying in t he lap of nat ure. Vegeta ble

cultivation was unknown in the villages. Snake

gourd, bottle gourd and ridge gourd were raised



22/268


near ha y sta cks. P a ppu or Dh a l, chut ney and gheef o r m e d t h e m e n u w h e n v e g e t a b l e s w e r e n o t

a va ila ble. Pa ppu a nd Da ppa lam, a nother delica cy,

w ere a must in mar riage feast. One reason ma ybe

why girls of marriageable age, are of ten asked

'w hen ar e you tr ea ting us to pappu and da ppa lam?

Non-vegeta ria n food w a s a ra rity . Chicken or mea t

was served on special occasions like the visit of

the son-in-law.

My fat her wa s not just a n upright a nd honest

m a n , b u t a d h e r e d t o c u s t o m s a n d t r a d i t i o n s

inherited from his elders. Temples were open to

t h e D a l i t s , a l t h o u g h a f e w m a y h a v e h a d

reserva tions. The Da lit s used to hold him a nd other

elders in esteem. On seeing my father, a Dali t

would respectfully hide the toddy pot behind his

back. Come festival time, mother would preparefinest delicacies like garelu, boorelu, ariselu and

lovingly watch us hog them eagerly. How can I

forget those sweet memories.

My village boasted of a number of temples. In

fact , those days no vi l lage was without at least

one t emple. Temple culture w a s m uch in evidence

in the coastal areas of Andhra and Tamil Nadu.

Rich farmers owned mango and sapota orchards

w hile children of middle cla ss fa rmers w ere cont ent

with relishing thaati munjalu and thegalu, both

products of palm tree. We also enjoyed eating

groundnut mixed with jaggery brought by Vysya

traders .



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O u r t e a c h e r s o r g a n i s e d m a n y f a n c yprogra mm es, including 'Mock P a rlia ment ' session

w ith me as the Spea ker. I wa s a lrea dy cla ss and

school lea der. S eeds of lead ership w ere thu s sow n

in my boyhood itself. I sported black badge and

organised class and even examination boycott in

1952 when Pott i Sriramulu made the supreme

sacrifice for separate statehood for the Telugus. I

was fired with patriotic fervor.

M y e l d e r b r o t h e r h a d s e t t l e d d o w n i n

V i s a k h a p a t n a m w h i l e t h e o t h e r i s s t i l l i n

Donepudi, doing agriculture. Their children are

well sett led. Sister Anasurya, now 87, l ives in

Vella tu r w ith children a nd gr a nd-children. I know

little about her marriage. Of course, I remember

well the marriages of my brothers.

Taking to the Water

We learnt swimming in the Krishna canal

holding on to th e ta ils of buffa loes. I w a s once sw ept

a w a y by the sw irling w a ter, but someone ha d saved

me by pulling me up by my waistband. I enjoyed

diving int o the can a l from t he bridge. Our school

w a s i n d u e c o u r s e u p g r a d e d b u t w e w r o t e

examinations in Kolluru. I stayed with relativesin Kolluru for m y S SC exa mina tion.

My fat her wa s not just a n idea l fa rmer but one

deeply involved in spir i tual pursui ts . He was

t h o r o u g h w i t h t h e e p i c s t h e R a m a y a n a , t h e

M a h a b h a r a t h a a n d t h e B h a g a v a t h a m a n d



24/268


interpreted them to suit the needs of people whoca me to him for direction a nd gu ida nce. He brought

us up on t he pa th of dha rma a nd piety, by exam ple

and precept. Faith, devotion and concentration

were indispensable for acquisition of knowledge

a nd int ellectua l a dva ncement, he w ould often sa y.

H e wa s th us my Teacher. His va lues a nd life-sty le

were my inspiration. In short, he was a complete

ma n. I w a s too young t hen to know his grea tn ess,but la ter yea rs unfolded t o me his extra ordina ry

personality and the distinctive qualities. A brave

hear t , he f aced many cha l l enges bu t d id no t

compromise on t rut h. A good S a ma rita n, he w ould

unhesita tingly render help to th e needy. Tha t w a s

his culture and upbringing. On the other hand,

my m oth er used her t ime a nd energies in runn ing

th e house, ta king ca re of th e fam ily, t he childrena nd th eir interests.

A s a b o y , I w a s g u i l t y o f a m i s t a k e .

P o o r n a c h a n d r a R a o , a b l i n d b o y , w a s m y

classma te. He w a s brillian t in studies. In childhood

ignora nce, I w ould ca ll him 'guddoda ' (blind ma n).

I rea lised tha t t he God wa s not sympa th etic enough

to the bo y . I ns tead o f s ympa th i s ing w i th h i s

ha ndica p, I ridiculed. Those memories still ha untme as I realise how much my w ords ha d hurt him.

H u m a n r e l a t i o n s h a v e u n d e r g o n e r a d i c a l

transformation over the decades, creating chasm

between man and man . Hav ing come f rom an

ordinary family which believed agriculture to be



25/268


the noblest occupation, I got an opportunity toserve as Agriculture Minister. How come? It is

noth ing but the w ill a nd benevolence of the Divine.

The G od ha d orda ined thus.

Wha tever th e positive impact of th e indust ria l

revolution in E urope on t he ma nkind, w e ca n st ill

draw comfort from the systems developed and

devices invented by our forefathers. Let us take,

for instance, the grinding stone or the use of cow

dung ca ke a s fuel , a ll pa rt of every da y rur a l life.

T h e y s t a n d t e s t i m o n y t o t h e i r i n t e l l e c t a n d

inventive genius.

Early Influence of Politics

P olitics ca st a bear ing on my life even during

th e student da ys. I wa s grea tly influenced by th e

1952 ag i t a t ion for separa te s t a tehood for the

Telugus. I ha d believed tha t a separ a te sta te wa s

a mus t f o r the pro gres s and dev e lo pment o f

Andhras. I was not politically well-informed or

know ledgea ble, but w ha t I rea d in papers or hea rd

from t he elders ma de me plunge hea dlong int o the

1952 movement spea rhea ded by P ott i Srira mulu,

i g n o r i n g m y f a t h e r ' s w a r n i n g s . D i d I n o t

enthusiastically participate in the independencecelebra tions year s a go?

It w a s w hile tra nsporting paddy to the rice mill

at Bhattiprolu that I heard the shocking news of

the a ssassina tion of G a ndhi by Na thura m G odse

on J a nua ry 30, 1948. I w a s crest -fa llen. In 1951,



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when I was s tudy ing in D o nepudi , t he S t a tepolitics w ere riven by tw o groups of Congressmen,

one led by NG Ranga and the other, by Neelam

Sa njiva Reddy. Vija ya w a da w a s the hub of politica l

act ivi ty .

Here I ma y mention a bout w ha t real ly w a s a

m a j o r p r o b l e m t h o s e d a y s , b u t m a y s o u n d

insignif icant to you now. One had to cross the

K r i s h n a r i v e r i n b o a t s a n d f e r r i e s t o r e a c h

Vija ya w a da a t grea t h a rdship a nd inconvenience.

T h e d a m b u i l t b y S i r A r t h u r C o t t o n w a s i n

existence, but w a s not designed t o a llow vehicula r

movement. B oa ts a nd punts w ere the only means.

This problem w a s overcome w ith t he const ruct ion

of the Prakasam Barrage which faci l i tated both

vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Those were the

da ys w hen elections in Vija ya w a da a tt ra cted Sta te-wide attention. The Congress suffered a vertical

spl i t as Ranga was defeated and le f t the par ty

a long wi th Pra kasam.

The events of my childhood shaped my later

life a nd t he seed for a ca reer in politics wa s sow n

at that tender age. This is the first chapter of my

ear ly life - one th a t ma y d etermine th e course of

my future.



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College days and politics

B a nda r or Machilipat na m w a s the cra dle of the

nationalist movement and the fount of culture. It

p ro duced many f reedo m f i gh te r s and men o f

l e t t e r s . One o f them was B ho gara j u P a t t abh iSitaramiah, a tal l f igure in the Congress party .

H e ha d chronicled t he history of the Congress part y

and thereby endeared himself to the people and

the party. The credit of founding Andhra Bank

went t o P a t ta bhi Si tara maiah a nd his a ssocia tes.

Another legend w ho strode Ba nda r like a colossus

was Mutnur i Kr i s hna Rao , Ed i to r o f Kr i s hna

P a t r ik a , who s e wr i t ings ins p i red po l i t i c i ans ,intellectu a ls, litt era t eurs a nd th e common people

alike.

After I passed what was then called 'school

finals' in 1953, my father wanted that I should

move to Machilipatnam for higher studies. Who

does not aspire to study in a place so steeped in

history. I joined the prestigious National College.

Our principal was Varadachari , an eminent

Sanskrit scholar. I t was said President Rajendra

Prasad was so impressed by his erudition at the

World Sanskrit Conference in Tirupati that he

p e r f o r m e d ' p a d a s e v a ' ( w a s h i n g t h e f e e t ) t o

Varadachari . S ivakamaiah, our v ice-principal ,

chapter 2


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t a u g h t E n g l i s h a n d k a v i p a d u s h a P u v v a d aS e s h a g i r i R a o , T e l u g u . N o r i R a d h a k r i s h n a

Murthy, our economics lecturer, later joined the

Indian Police Service.

B a n d a r , a p o r t t o w n , r e m a i n e d d i s t r i c t

hea dqua rt ers even aft er independence. The Niza m

ceded Bandar to the British. The Nizam used to

trade with other countries through this port they

used t o ca ll 'B a nda r ga a h'. I t w a s beca use of thisconnection tha t Kh a sim Ra zvi, the Ra za ka r lea der,

boasted to the Nizam and his followers that his

sword brooked no challenge and that he would

wash it only in Bandar port. The town acquired

the na me, Ma chilipa tna m, beca use of a bunda nce

of fish ('machili' in Urdu). The British shortened

i t t o Mas u l a wh ich a l s o was in cur rency t i l l

recently. Machilipat na m, t ucked a w a y in a corner,l a g g e d b e h i n d t h e r a i l w a y j u n c t i o n t o w n o f

Vijayawada which wi tnessed rapid growth and

development. During the Raj , the white rulers

camped in Bandar. There was another college in

the town, but my fa ther , patr io t ic to the core ,

pre ferred the Nat iona l Co l lege s tar ted by the

na t io na l i s t l e aders . Lo g i ca l l y , I s ho uld hav e

studied in my na tive G untu r district , but did not

because the town was plagued by water scarcitya nd disea ses.

While in Bandar I l ived in Godugupeta and

made friends with Ramanaiah Naidu, legislator.

H e wa s a ffect iona te t o me. We boys used t o eat in

Ra mi Reddy- Amma mma mess, pa ying Rs thr ee a



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month. E very w eek, by tu rns, w e would cont ributerice, pulses, salt etc to the pool. They used to call

it a 'mess' in those days itself. I would cross the

Krishna, take a bus to Bandar via Challapal l i . I

would stop by at Challapalli to fulfil my fancy -

peeping a t th e Ra ja h's high pedigree dogs, ra bbits

a nd deer t hrough a hole in the pala ce ga te. Ha ving

studied all along in Telugu, I became nervous in

th e college w here the medium w a s E nglish. I evenconsidered retu rning h ome, but a t th e inst a nce of

s o m e f r i e n d s , w e n t t o o n e S S R M u r t h y , a

prominent E nglish t ea cher, to lea rn gra mma r.

Madras State elections

B a nda r w a s a lso sa id to be notorious for rowdy

element s. We saw a photo a t a studio a nd w ondered

if the ma n in t he pictu re did not look like a rowdy .

Getting wind of this, some musclemen rushed to

our college to thra sh u s. There w ere tw o groups in

our college, one sympathising with the Congress

a nd t he oth er w ith t he commun ists. There would

often be clashes and arrests. We sought the help

of one rowdy nicknamed 'Sunnam' because of his

a bilit y t o reduce his vict ims t o 'sunna m' (limestone

powder). Thus, we did dabble in politics in our

college a nd ignored sport s.

I w as s t i ll in B a ndar w hen U . N. Dhebar w a s

e l e c t e d p r e s i d e n t o f t h e A l l I n d i a C o n g r e s s

C o m m i t t e e a t A v a d i s e s s i o n n e a r M a d r a s . I

treasure the memories of l istening to Dhebar's

s p e e c h a n d m e e t i n g h i m d u r i n g a n e l e c t i o n



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c a m p a i g n i n B a n d a r . T h e c o m m u n i s t p a r t yl a u n c h e d a h i g h - p r o f i l e c a m p a i g n t h a t

P u t c h a l a p a l l i S u n d a r a y y a w o u l d f o r m t h e

Government wi th Tarimela Nagi Reddy as the

Finance Minister and Cha ndra Ra jeswa ra Ra o a s

the Home Minister. Their meetings were well-

attended. G. Varalakshmi, leading actress of the

day, campaigned for the communists.

T h e C o n g r e s s t o o k t h e e l e c t i o n s i n t h ecomposite Madras State elections as a prestige

ma tt er. Top leader S. K . P a til ca me from B omba y

w ith full pa ra pherna lia to ca mpaign for th e part y.

The elections threw up a hung Assembly with

d i f f e r e n t p a r t i e s a n d d i s p a r a t e g r o u p s .

J a w a ha ra lal Nehru stepped in to clea r the mess

by proposing C. Rajagopalachari 's name for the

chief ministership. He w a s not a member of eith erH o u s e . T h e G o v e r n o r , S r i P r a k a s a , l a t e r

nominated Rajagopalachari to the Upper House

to legitimise his appointment a s th e chief minist er.

Fea ring injust ice in a composite St a te, the Telugu-

speaking people claimed a part of Madras ci ty

w here their populat ion w a s domina nt . A commit tee

w a s formed t o go into the issue, but it s verdict w ent

a ga inst t he Telugus.

B o w i n g t o t h e g r o w i n g d e m a n d , t h e

Go v ernment o f I nd i a ag reed in pr inc ip le f o r

creat ion of l inguis t ic s ta tes . Rayalaseema and

Circars reached an agreement under 'Sr ibagh

pact'. People thought it was all the handiwork of

Ra ja ji . U nder this pa ct, th e new sta te would ha ve



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the capital in one place and the high court ina nother. The Fa zl Ali Commission, form ed for t he

purpose of the new st a te, fa voured Vija ya w a da a s

the Capital city, but the Congress leaders were

apprehensive that the communis ts , who had a

sizeable presence in the area, would gain upper

hand. They brought pressure on the party high

command no t to loca te the Capi ta l there . NG

Ranga suggested Tirupati for the Capital whileTenne t i V i s wana tham and Go uthu La tchanna

plumped for Visakhapatnam. On Neelam Sanjiva

Reddy's advice, Prakasam sett led for Kurnool .

People maintain even now that had Vijayawada

been made the Cap i t a l i n v i ew o f i t s cen t r a l

location, it would have progressed by leaps and

bounds.

Kavi Samrat abusedViswa nadha Sa tya nara yana , a towering figure

in Telugu litera tur e, w a s th en teaching in S SR &

CVR College of Vijayawada. He gained fame as

th e a ut hor of th e voluminous 'Veyi P a da ga lu'. Our

college a rr a nged a function t o honour h im. A group

of irate s tudents accosted him at the entrance,

abused him in fi l thy language and threw stones.

'Veyi Padagalu' was included in the syllabus asthe non-detailed subject for them. 'How can we

stu dy t he book w hen ea ch sent ence runs t o 70 to

80 lines' w a s t heir grouse. Ta king t he incident in

his stride, Viswa na dha took a sw ipe at the boys a t

the fe l ic i ta t ion funct ion. ' I have al ready been

honoured a t t he ga te. Why a ga in here ', he asked.



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'The boys here appear to be qui te g i f ted' , heremarked sarcastically.

I w a s w i t n e s s t o m a n y s u c h i n c i d e n t s a t

B a nda r. I fa iled in one subject in F. A. second y ear

(plus tw o sta ge) but clea red it in t he supplementa ry

examination. Instead of idling my time, I visited

my eldest brother, J a na rdha na Ra o, then working

a s ta hsilda r in Wa ra nga l. I ha d seen the thousa nd-

pilla red temple in my ear lier trips. Wa ra nga l tow nthen ha d a number of tonga s. I t being a forest a rea,

many locals and rich shikaris enjoyed hunting

wildlife. The shikaris would visit my brother as

he wa s the ta hsilda r there.

My brother suggested that , instead of losing

the academic year, I join Vivek Vardhini College

in Hyderaba d w hich a dmitted students pa ssing the

supplementary examination. He got me enrolled

in t he college. A couple of us st a yed in t he outh ouse

of one Sha hbuddin Ahmed Kha n, a B a rrister and

Ma yor, in Troop B a za r, nea r our college. Kha n a nd

J . V. Nar sing Ra o, president of P ra desh Congress,

were good friends. We used to go to a hotel at

Moa zza mja hi Ma rket for a cup of pa una cha i, th ick

a nd undiluted. The Ga ndhi B ha va n a lso w a s close

by. E ven w hile in the college, politics exerted st rongpull which I found difficult to shrug off. I made

a c q u a i n t a n c e w i t h N a r s i n g R a o a n d V a l l u r u

Basava Raju ( V . B . Raju) popular as 'Apara

C h a n a k y a ' . M . S a t y a n a r a y a n a R a o a n d

U p p u n u t h a l a P u r u s h o t h a m R e d d y w e r e m y

classmates and Pa lava i Goverdhan Reddy our



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junior. Sa tya na ra ya na Ra o, Rao Sa heb as w e ca lled

him, was a l ready marr ied. He rose to become

general secretary of the AICC, president of the

P C C a n d M i n i s t e r . P u r u s h o t h a m R e d d y a n d

G overdha n Reddy a lso beca me Ministers. Anoth er

class fellow w a s Adusumilli P a ndura nga Ra o, who

l ik e me came f ro m Andhra a rea . He to o was

incl ined to jo ining pol i t ics , but took to legal

practice. I was introduced to the Deputy ChiefMinister, Neela m S a njiva R eddy, w ho visited our

co l lege a t the ins tance o f MSR, Purushotham

Reddy and Goverdhan Reddy. We also had the

privilege of listening t o a br illia nt speech by V. K.

Krishna Menon, Union Minister.

V i v e k V a r d h i n i C o l l e g e , m a n a g e d b y

M a h a r a s h t r i a n s , w a s t h e f o u n t o f p o l i t i c a l

consc iousness and had groomed a number o f

youngsters for the nationalist movement. I t was

credited with supplying 'oxygen for the liberation

mo v ement o f Te l angana ' . S a twa lek ar , a s o f t -

spoken man and a visionary, was our principal.

His wife was a renowned doctor belonging to a

pat riotic fam ily. P S Ra o w a s a fine E nglish tea cher.

Many were the unforgettable moments of days in

the college.

Police Action in Hyderabad

Most of th e spirited young men w ho fough t for

l iberat ion of Telangana were f rom the Reddy

Hostel or the Nizam College. A galaxy of leaders



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l ike Ra vi Nara ya na Reddy, Konda Venkat a Ra ngaReddy, Madapati Hanumantha Rao, Mandumula

Naras inga Rao , B addam Ye l l a Reddy , Aru t l a

Ra mcha ndra Reddy, B himreddy Nara simha Reddy

roused the people to fight the tyrannical rule of

the Nizam. Telangana was l iberated fo l lowing

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel 's far-sighted decision

to order P olice Action.

In the val iant s truggle for l iberat ion, many

activists of the movement were shot dead by the

Nizam's Army and the Razakars. Villages were

looted a nd burn t down a nd w omen molested during

the reign of terror unleashed by Kha sim Ra zvi a nd

his ba nd of Ra za kar s w ith t he ta cit support of the

Nizam. Marri Channa Reddy would often recall

these atroci t ies . Channa Reddy and his family

moved to Vija ya w a da for sa fety a nd P V Na ra simhaRao to Nagpur during those harrowing days. The

police action began on September 13 and ended

on S ept ember 18 ena bling t he people of Tela nga na

to breat he free.

I remember the sta tement of the Chief Minister

Burgula Ramakrishna Rao that an acre of land

w a s w ort h Rs 4000 in Andhr a region a ga inst only

Rs 400 in Tela nga na a rea . If t he people of th e tw o

reg ions came toge ther , Telangana a l so could

prosper agricultura lly. Cha nna Reddy an d Konda

V e n k a t a R a n g a R e d d y d i s a g r e e d w i t h h i m .

A g g r e s s i v e b y t e m p e r a m e n t , C h a n n a R e d d y

launched a movement for sepa ra teTelanga na sta te.



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Visaalandhra movement

B urgula t ried his best t o persua de Nehru tha t

Visaa la ndhr a , bringing togeth er th e Telugus from

different regions, w a s impera tive. Nehru w a s not

convinced, beca use he wa s not a w a re of a ny such

dema nd.. 'We do not even know w het her t he people

w a nt i t or not', he wondered. Burgula immediat ely

cont a cted his Home Minister Diga mber Ra o B indu

on phone and asked him to organise a publ ic

meeting . 'Sir. We and communists braved lathi

blow s for Visa a la ndh ra . Those opposing it a re very

few', Bindu replied.

Armed with this, Bur gula met th e Union H ome

Minis ter , Gobind Bal labh Pant , convinced him

about his case and used his good offices to get

Nehru t o a ddress a public meeting in Nizama ba d.

It w a s a t this meeting tha t Nehru ma de the historic

announcement about Visaalandhra.

We f r iends used to f requent Sul tan Bazar

know n for t he lan dma rk C lock Tow er a nd Andhr a

Book House nearby . The clock tower was the

ra llying point for the a nt i-Niza m forces w hich held

meetings and demonstrations there. In fact, the

campaign for Andhras under one roof dates back

to the founding of Sri Krishnadevaraya Andhra

B a sha Nila ya m in Sulta n B a za r in 1901. The City

Congress office was next door. Eminent men like

Nayani Venkata Ranga Rao, Raja o f Munagala ,

M a d a p a t i H a n u m a n t h a R a o, Ra ja B a h a d ur

Venkatram Reddy , Kotwal of Hyderabad, were



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behind the starting of the Library, which in thecourse of time becam e a bea con for those fight ing

the Nizam. These forces derived great strength

from the people's support. The brave people of

Tela nga na w rote a golden cha pter in history w hen

they faced the might of the Nizam's army with

count ry-ma de fire-a rm s, spea rs a nd chilli pow der.

Burgula was the moving spi r i t beh ind the

Visaalandhra movement . He led a team of h isCa binet colleagues and MLAs to B eza w a da G opala

R e d d y , C h i e f M i n i s t e r o f A n d h r a S t a t e , a n d

s u c c e e d e d i n c o n v i n c i n g h i m a n d a l s o t h e

Government of India. In the larger interests of

un ity of the Telugu-spea king people, he sa crificed

the Chief Minis ter 's post . This large-hearted

g e s t u r e s h o u l d n e v e r b e f o r g o t t e n . I n t h e

developments t ha t follow ed, he wa s sent t o Kera laa s G overnor. H a d he been nomina ted to the Ra jya

Sa bha , Rama krishna Ra o w ould ha ve become the

Home Minister in Nehru's Cabinet. This did not

happen becaus e o f the unhe lp fu l a t t i tude o f

Neelam S a njiva Reddy. It w a s very unfort una te.

The people of H ydera ba d w ere not influenced

by caste or religion until after the advent of our

people from Andhra when they became tools ofpower politics. It will be interesting to note that

Sa njiva Reddy wa s the Deputy C hief Minister in

the Cabinet o f Bezawada Gopala Reddy. When

A n d h r a P r a d e s h w a s f o r m e d , G o p a l a R e d d y

became member of the Sanjiva Reddy Ministry.

Neit her considered it infra dig to w ork und er th e



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other. They were above narrow considerations,their only concern being the w elfa re of the people

a nd t he development of the S ta te. Konda Venka ta

R a n g a R e d d y w a s o f f e r e d t h e D e p u t y C h i e f

Minister's post. St a lwa rt s like Ka la Venka ta Ra o

were in Sanj iva Reddy's Cabinet . The general

publ ic a l so fos tered a broad-minded ca tho l ic

outlook.

Channa Reddy, who was out of the Congressf o r s o m e t i m e , o r g a n i s e d a p u b l i c m e e t i n g

a ddressed by C. Ra ja gopala cha ri . He return ed t o

th e pa rent pa rt y a nd held severa l key positions in

the par ty and the Government . I happened to

attend the meeting held on a vacant ground in

Kothi. Andhra Bank building now stands in that

p l a c e . S a n j i v a R e d d y w e n t t o D e l h i a s p a r t y

president a t t he behest of Nehru a nd Da moda ra mSanjivayya was named the Chief Minister . The

sta te of pa rty a ffa irs w a s such those da ys tha t Ka su

B r a h m a n a n d a R e d d y h a d t o i n t e r v e n e i n h i s

ca pacity a s th e Chief Minister just t o get Ka kan i

Venkata Ratnam accommodated in the Pradesh

Election Committee.

Mysore Ca f, B rinda va n H otel on t he Nam pally

sta tion roa d, Va sa nt Viha r in the Abids, Dw a ra kaH o t e l i n L a k d i - k a - P u l a l o n e u s e d t o o f f e r

a ccommoda t ion t o people comin g from our region.

Some ot hers ma na ged accommoda tion in t he MLA

quarters .

As a stu dents w henever I visited th e Abids, I



38/268


could see only ca rs belonging t o the 'Niza m na w a b',hardly those of any others. Another sight in the

city w a s of ca rria ges dra w n by st urdy mules. Life

as a whole and our studies in the metropolitan

culture of Hyderabad was hassle-free.

Visaalandhra became an issue in my student

da ys itself. Sepa ra te Tela nga na prota gonists burnt

d o w n t h e c a r o f t h e C h i e f M i n i s t e r B u r g u l a

R a m a k r i s h n a R a o , a n a r d e n t a d v o c a t e o f a nintegra ted S t a te for t he Telugus. He lived in S ha h

Manzi l now renamed Raj Bhavan , the o f f i c i a l

residence of the Governor. As supporters of the

Visa laa ndhra movement, w e used to meet B urgula.

We were awe-struck by the imposing interiors of

the Shah Manzil . Paintings depicting events and

pers o na l i t i e s o f the Nizam e ra enhanced the

elega nce of t he orna te- looking h a ll.

Sastry - a towering personality

I often hea rd fr om old-t imers a bout the key role

pla yed by S. N. S a stry, a prominent journa list , in

Hy dera ba d's a ccession t o the India n U nion. I ha d

the good fortune of meeting him. Many were the

a necdotes a nd event s of those da ys t ha t he reca lled

for my benefit. The Government of India's Agent

G eneral in Hy dera bad, K . M. Munshi, used to sta y

in wha t is now 'Ra shtra pati Nila ya m' in Bola rum

in the Ca ntonment a rea . I t wa s sa id tha t he would

give his a ssessment of t he ground situ a t ion t o th e

U nion H ome Minister, Va lla bhbha i P a tel , on t he

basis of critical inputs provided by S. N. Sastry.



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Su ch w a s Sa str y's ability t o a na lyse development s.He knew most of the Prime Ministers (that was

how C hief Ministers w ere know n) in t he Nizam 's

State and maintained close contacts with them.

The P olice Action, on t he w hole, w ent off smoothly .

On t he suggest ion of friends, I joined E vening

Law College in Tilak Road after completing B. A.

in Vivek Vardhini College. At the same time, I

pursued Diploma in Loca l Self-G overnment . B y t hetime I f inished La w , my qua lifica tions read thus:

Nadendla B ha ska ra Ra o, B. A. , Ll .B . , LSG D.

I a nd Adusumilli P a ndura nga Ra o enrolled as

m e m b e r s o f t h e R i d i n g C l u b f o r f u n a n d

occasionally enjoyed horse-riding.

A Muslim friend int roduced me to Ra mcha ndra

Reddy, Deshmukh of Visunur. Sri Sa tya Sa i B a baused to v is i t Ramchandra Reddy's house . The

P u t t a p a r t h i B a b a p er s on a l ly c on d u ct e d m y

ma rria ge w ith La litha B . A. in 1959. Her parents

Va sireddy Venka iah Choudary a nd La ksmi Devi,

w ere devotees of B a ba . Venka iah Choudary w a s a

distinguished la w yer w ho ear ned his doctora te in

l a w i n L o n d o n a n d p r a c t i s e d l a w i n M a d r a s ,

G untur and Hyderaba d.



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Early phase as lawyer

With t he La w degree in ha nd, I looked a round

for a job. With none forthcoming, I joined as

apprent ice under Chal l a Kondaiah , who l a ter

beca me the Chief J ust ice, a nd t hen a s th e junior

of Duvvuri Na ra sa Ra ju in 1961.

I began independent pra ctice, but my mind w a s

never in it . With the help of Sri Satya Sai Baba,

my father-in-law got me appointed as personnel

manager in Rao Insulators in Bangalore. I t did

not ta ke me long t o rea lise th a t t he job in a privat e

company did not fit in with my avowed objective

in life. I was back in Hyderabad in six months.H ow could I go ba ck to th e ba r a ga in?

Hearing about vacancies in the World Health

Orga nisa tion (WH O), I w ent t o Delhi in t he hope

of lan ding a job w ith t he help of influentia l friends.

Dr. Na idu wa s then w orking in the Externa l Affa irs

Ministry a nd G . V. Subba Ra o w a s pla nning officer

for Asia r egion a t the U NIC E F. I intended t o utilise

th e good offices of Da moda ra m S a njivaia h, a lrea dya n esta blished lea der in t he Congress pa rt y. I a lso

made acquaintance with Col . Raju, Member of

P a rl ia ment from Ra ja hmundry. He wa s a Minister

in Nehru 's Ca binet. C ol. Ra ju w a s ear lier persona l

p h y s i c i a n o f N e t a j i S u b h a s h C h a n d r a B o s e .

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A n o t h e r n e w a c q u a i n t a n c e w a s K o t h a

Raghuramaiah, who wielded a lot of clout in our

a rea . How ever, th e collective effort s of these people

w ere of li t t le a vai l as a n Austra l ia n w a lked a w a y

the prized job. I was crest-fallen.

I was a famil iar f igure, thanks to my active

involvement in the Youth Congress act ivi t ies .

P eople would tr eat me wit h a ffection an d respect .I would look wistfully at the Teen Murti House,

w here J a w a ha rlal Nehru l ived, as I passed by i t

on my way to the residence of G. V. Subba Rao.

Horse r iding in Teen Murt i compound was a

regular h a bit of Nehru. I w a tched him ma ny t imes.

I w a s in Delhi wh en his dea th plunged t he ent ire

country in grief. The people could not digest the

pa ssing a w a y of free India 's P rime Minister for 17

long yea rs. Few lead ers ha d endear ed themselvesto the people as closely as Nehru had. He was

universa l ly acc la imed as a g rea t s t a tesman , a

friend of the ma sses, a lea der pa r excellence. The

country found i tse l f in a quandary . Dr . Naidu

informed me about the t ragedy at 8 :30 in the

morning and took me to the Teen Murti House.

Only J . B. Kripa lani wa s seen sta nding nea r the

body. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Nehru's sister, wasyet to arrive from Bombay. I could vividly recall

th e pictur e on th a t fa teful da y.

G ulzari La l Nanda , then Home Minister , wa s

sworn in the interim Prime Minister. Who can

uphold Nehru's lo f ty values and cont inue his



42/268


lega cy? Tha t w a s t he question most w idely deba ted

those days. The Congress high command named

La l B a ha dur S ha stri to be the full-fledged P rime

Minister. I a tt ended Nehru's funeral, paid t earful

homage to the great leader and prayed for him.

Ma ny such memories rema in engra ved in my mind.

I pondered about my own future. Some people

compliment ed me on m y a bilities, but a ll the sa me

I was denied the kind of recognition I expected,

both in Hydera bad a nd my own region.

Back at the bar

People in politics cannot do without tact and

d i p l o m a c y . K n o w i n g t h a t t h e s e t r a i t s w e r e

w oefully lacking in me, I decided t o retu rn to t he

ba r, this time ta king th e job in right ea rnest. Ha rd

work and dedication soon earned a name for me.

My successes endeared me to the c l ients and

enha nced my sta nding a mong the law yers . I w a s

accepted on a par with the stalwarts . I was the

youngest a mong the ha ndful of leading la w yers. I

s c o r e d s i g n i f i c a n t v i c t o r i e s a r g u i n g a g a i n s t

renow ned a dversa ries. I used to cha rge the clients

moderately. Those days fees ranged between Rs

500 and Rs 2000 - a lmost a w orld of difference from

today's a stronomica l dema nds. I ha d ha lf a dozen

a ssista nt s, including tw o stenogra phers. I believe

the God alone conferred upon me this status. On

account o f th i s e leva t ion , I a l so incurred the

jealousy of some people.



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I fol lowed professional norms in let ter and

spirit a nd a dhered to eth ica l va lues. As a successful

law yer, I a lso ea rned a lot. K now ing my a bilities,

Boddepal ly Rajagopala Rao (veteran leader o f

Srikakulam district and former MP) gave me a

brief a ga inst N. G . Ra nga in the High C ourt. While

ta king it up, I decided t ha t t he ca se a lone ma tt ered,

not the fa me or t he sta tus of the adversary . In view

of my connection with politics, most of the casesbrought to me related to poli t ics . I t was again

politics tha t enha nced my popula rity a s a law yer.

Natura l ly , I was cons idered as a Congress

la w yer. In th e Sixties, w e formed 'Young La w yers

Association'. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy came from

D elhi to ina ugur a te it . We offered free lega l a dvice

to the poor.

I could not rema in isola ted from politics despite

pre-occupation with the legal practice. The urge

to gravitate to politics was overpowering. I was

a l r e a d y m e m b e r o f t h e a l l I n d i a C o n g r e s s

Committee as well as of the Pradesh Congress

C o m m i t t e e . I w a s c l o s e l y w a t c h i n g p o l i t i c a l

dev e lo pments and the changes s weeping the

country those days.I was one o f the APCC members who had

emphat ica lly ma inta ined in 1968 th a t unless Ka su

Brahmananda Reddy stepped down as the Chief

Minis ter immediate ly , the ongoing Telangana

a gita tion w ould not subside. The G overnm ent ha d



44/268


even considered arresting me. I was a success

law yer a nd dyna mic politician. It w a s only nat ura l

t h a t t h a t t h e C o n g r e s s p a r t y r e c o g n i s e d m y

a b i l i t i e s . S u r p r i s i n g l y , I w a s n o m i n a t e d t o

represent the distant Srikakulam district , where

the Vamsadhara f lowed, in pre ference to the

Krishna ca tchment, w here I studied in D onepudi

a n d B a n d a r , o r t o H y d e r a b a d . I w a s t h e n

supporting Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.



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The Youth Congress Days

I a tt ended the P a chma rhi session of the Youth

Co ngres s a t the behes t o f P a l av a i Go v erdhan

Reddy, then president of the State unit . Indira

Gandhi, a past president of the Youth Congress,addressed the sess ion as the Pr ime Minis ter .

Narayan Dutt Tiwari , who la ter became Chief

Minister of UP a nd U tt a ra ncha l and t he Governor

of Andhra Pradesh, had just then been elected

president of the Youth Congress.

In the wake of di f ferences between Indira

G a n d h i a n d K a m a r a j N a d a r , t h e p a r t y h e l d

separa te sessions in G uja ra t a nd Maha ra shtra . I

could not forget the momentous occas ion. As

member of the executive committee of all-India

Youth Congress, I invited our general secretary,

Ta ra kesw a ri Sinha to tour our St a te. We addr essed

some meetings. Around t he sa me time, the pa rt y

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

o r g a n i s a t i o n a l C o n g r e s s , f o l l o w i n g t h e

cont roversia l decision t o nomina te Neela m S a njivaR e d d y a s t h e c a n d i d a t e f o r t h e p r e s i d e n t i a l

election.

With t he decent income from pra ctice, I bought

50 a cres of la nd on t he Ka rimna ga r road, a nother

10 a cres in Pa ta ncheru industria l a rea, a part from

chapter 4


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a couple of house-sites. I also built a house inHy deraba d, in a ddition t o th e one I l ive now . I w a s

f l u s h w i t h m o n e y . I t n e e d e d t o b e i n v e s t e d

judiciously. Legal practice was the only source of

income. I successfully a rgued a ca se in w hich t w o

persons of Vijayawada were convicted of murder

a nd sa ved t hem from t he gallow s.

The Telangana agi tat ion was at i ts peak in

1968-69. Many youngsters had lost their l ives.

Many of us fel t that Kasu Brahmananda Reddy

should step down immediately if the integrity of

the State had to be preserved. With the situation

d e t e r i o r a t i n g , I n d i r a G a n d h i f l e w d o w n t o

Hyderaba d a nd unsea ted B rahma nanda Reddy.

Separate Telangana Agitation

Capping many rounds of parleys and intense

debat e, P . V. Nara simha Ra o w a s na med the new

Chief Minister. Reacting to the Supreme Court

verdict on th e Mulki issue, Na ra simha Ra o sa id it

p u t a f i n a l i t y t o t h e i s s u e . T h i s h a s t y a n d

thoughtless observation triggered hostile reaction

from th e people in Andh ra region a nd divided th e

Cabinet as well . The separate Andhra agitation

h a d t h e b l e s s i n g s o f v e t e r a n s l i k e K a k a n iVenkat a ra tna m, B. V. Subba Reddy, P. B a si Reddy

and Bat t ina Subba Rao. Many leaders rebel led

a gainst Na ra simha Ra o a nd took to the streets to

intensify the a gita tion.

One night I received a cal l f rom Ch. V. P .



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M u r t h y R a j u , M i n i s t e r i n N a r a s i m h a R a o ' s

C a b i n e t , a b o u t t h e d e a t h o f K a k a n i

Venkatara tnam, who was a l so in the Cabine t .

Ka ka ni ha d a soft corner for me. I tr ied to cont a ct

Na ra simha Ra o on phone. Then I rushed to Ana nda

Nilayam (official residence of the Chief Minister)

in my Fia t a nd w oke him up. I plea ded with h im

to rush to Vija ya w a da a t once and pa y last respects

to th e depa rt ed colleagu e. Oth erw ise, it w ould bedifficult to save the Government. I tendered this

advice as a sincere Congress worker, anxiously

w a tching t he a larm ing developments.

Narasimha Rao ignored my advice. Afraid of

f ac ing the wra th o f the people in Andhra , he

instead called an emergency Cabinet meeting to

adopt a condolence resolution. Content with this

token display of sympathy, PV restrained other

Ministers a lso from going to Vija ya w a da . It w a s a

bla ta nt a ct of cow a rdice.

V. V. Giri, who was President, wondered how

could a Chief Minister , who lacked courage to

a t tend the l as t r i tes o f h i s own co l league , be

expected t o govern t he St a t e an d exert ed pressure

on In dira G a ndh i to sa ck him. The P resident 's Rulefollowed.

The G overnment of India sent Ha ris Cha ndra

Sar in , a re t i red IAS of f icer , as Advisor to the

G overnor. A shrew d a nd dyna mic officer, ca pa ble

of qu ick decisions, S a rin s oon endea red himself t o



48/268


all sections with his style of efficient functioning.He adv ised Indira G a ndhi to a ppoin t J a l aga m

Vengala Rao as the Chief Minister. Vengala Rao,

he said, would be acceptable to Telangana and

Andhra regions. This was done.

Meanwhi le , ano ther ca l ami ty over took the

country in the form of Emergency, plunging it in

cha os. P olitical lea ders w ere put behind th e ba rs.

Indira and the Congress routed

The emergency had a disastrous fall-out on

I nd i r a Gandh i and the Co ngres s in the 1977

elections to the Lok Sabha. The leader and the

p a r t y w e r e r o u t e d . S h e n o m i n a t e d K a s u

Brahmananda Reddy as pres ident o f the par ty .

B ra hma na nda Reddy expelled her from th e part y

blaming her personally for the election debacle.

V e n g a l a R a o , t h e n C h i e f M i n i s t e r , h e a r t i l y

endorsed the action. Ironically, she was thrown

out by the very person she had chosen to be

president.

No w onder, they say, inscrut a ble are th e wa ys

of Destiny. Indira G a ndhi wa s a ll a lone. E ven her

trusted lieutenant , Kotha Ra ghurama iah, desertedher to join J a na ta P a rt y, peeved a t t he eleva tion

of B ra hma na nda Reddy a s the Congress president.

One wondered how Indira Gandhi, who had held

the office of prime minister, could face the new

cha llenge. Sh e wa s not t he one to be cow ed dow n

by adversity.



49/268


Fol lowing the landsl ide v ic tory in the LokSabha e lec t ions , Morar j i Desa i was made the

P r ime Min i s te r on th e a dv ice of J a i P r a k as h

N a r a y a n . N e e l a m S a n j i v a R e d d y b e c a m e t h e

Spea ker a nd la ter the President. J a gjiva n Ra m a nd

Charan Singh were senior members of the new

Jana ta Par ty Minis t ry .

Cha nna Reddy, who w a s the Governor of Ut ta r

P ra desh, who w a s not on best of terms with Cha ra nSingh, resigned his post a nd returned to the St a te

politics. He w a s th en toying w ith th e idea of joining

t h e J a n a t a P a r t y.

M . R a m c h a n d r a R e d d y , a n a d v o c a t e ,

i n t r o d u c e d m e t o C h a n n a R e d d y . S o o n o u r

f r iendship became s t ronger . One day Channa

Reddy a sked me if I could mobilise a few hund red

party workers from Vijayawada and for his part,

he would organise par ty men from Telangana

region. He suggested that we convene a meeting

in H ydera ba d w here futur e course of a ction could

be formula ted. Vengala Ra o w a s th e Chief Minister

a nd the J a nat a P ar t y wa s in power a t the Centre.

Channa Reddy was sti l l weighing the possibili ty

of join in g t h e J a n a t a P a r t y . P i d a t h a la R a n g a

Reddy, Kot la Vijayabhaskara Reddy and someseniors were vehemently opposed to supporting

Indira G a ndhi. So were B hava na m Venkatra m a nd

Gade Venkata Reddy, now MLA from Bapat la .

They w a lked out of th e meeting sa ying t hey w ould

have no th ing to do wi th Indi ra Gandhi . I was

keenly follow ing these development s.



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Regional party mooted

Channa Reddy , Ramachandra Reddy and I ,

a fter t horough delibera tions, convened th e meeting

a tt ended by a bout 300 w orkers. Some speakers felt

that Indira's s tock had gone down and that she

would be a l iabi l i ty . Channa Reddy favoured a

regiona l part y for t he St a te, but t he ca dre present

w a s not sur e if the idea w a s w orka ble. Even lea ders

l i k e P r a k a s a m a n d N . G . R a n g a h a d a l m o s tforfeited their identity by st a rt ing regiona l part y.

They were in a quandary as to the future if they

left t he Congress. Some lea ders a ssert ed t ha t th ey

part with Indira. 'Would she allow you to become

Ch ief Minister', th ey dema nded to know of Ch a nna

Reddy. I was clear in my mind that our survival

and future was l inked to Indira Gandhi . So we

must sa il with h er.

P a rt y men visiting me would repea tedly sa y it

w a s possible to form the G overnment in the S ta te

i f I n d i r a G a n d h i w a s p e r s u a d e d t o l e a v e t h e

Congress par ty and s tar t her own. I regular ly

briefed Ch a nna Reddy a bout th ese developments.

Ch a nna Reddy's confidence in me w a s grow ing by

the day as he fel t that al l my predict ions were

c o m i n g t r u e . ' W h a t B h a s k a r s a y s s o u n d sconvincing, but I ndira G a ndhi ca nnot be tr ust ed',

Cha nna Reddy felt .

Around t his time, Devra j U rs deputed one Mrs.

P ra sa d of Delhi to hold discussions w ith C ha nna

R e d d y i n H y d e r a b a d . A f t e r m e e t i n g C h a n n a



51/268


Reddy, his aides a nd S . N. Sa stry of E ena du, shem a d e a p r o p o s a l . C h a n n a R e d d y i n v i t e d C .

J a ga nna tha Ra o a nd me to join for lunch t o discuss

her proposa l. I r ejected out right the proposa l for a

joint regional party for Karnataka and Andhra

P radesh a s unsuita ble for us . I and J a ganna tha

Rao minced no words to insist that we stay with

I n d i r a G a n d h i c o n s i d e r i n g t h e p e o p l e ' s

overwhelming confidence in her leadership. Thisw a s a lso in the best interests of the Sta te. Cha nna

Reddy was unable to come to a conclusion.

A week later, Mrs. Prasad informed Urs that

Channa Reddy was dithering because of the stiff

opposition voiced by 'a youngster Bhaskara Rao'

and tha t Urs should lose no t ime in go ing to

Hyderabad . Urs f lew down to Hyderabad by a

s p e c i a l p l a n e . C h a n n a R e d d y i n v i t e d m e ,J a g a n n a t h a R a o a n d S a s t r y f or t h e lu n ch eon

meeting with Urs. We discussed threadbare the

polit ica l situa tion and th e need for a regiona l pa rt y.

Urs, who saw me at the lunch, remarked 'This

young ma n seems to be prophet ic in his w ords' a nd

made enquiries about me with Channa Reddy. I

reitera ted my st a nd more forcefully. I a dvised th em

to split t he party , throw out Ka su Bra hma na ndaReddy and bring back Indira G a ndhi to the centre-

sta ge. Indira 's pa rt y w ill be our pa rt y, I sa id firmly.

They h a d no choice but t o bow t o the sheer force of

m y a r g u m e n t . I a l s o r e i t e r a t e d m y s t a n d o n

forming regional party and the futility of such a

venture.



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Catastrophic cyclone

A few days before the meeting, the coastal

areas were battered by the worst cyclonic storm

a nd t ida l wa ys know n t o history on November 19,

1 9 7 7 , s p r e a d i n g d e v a s t a t i o n p a r t i c u l a r l y i n

Krishna a nd G unt ur d istricts. Thousa nds of people

a nd a nima ls were killed. It ca used unprecedent ed

loss of property and extensive damage to crops. I

w a nted Cha nna Reddy to visit the a rea a nd console

the people in distress, but he was reluctant. He

felt he might not be welcome there in view of his

t i r ade aga ins t the Andhra peo ple dur ing the

Telangana agitation. I allayed his fears and got

him to ma ke the trip. Me, Cha nna Reddy and t he

c h a i r m a n o f t h e W a r a n g a l z i l l a p a r i s h a d

ext ensively t oured t he a ffected a rea s in D iviseema

and Gun tur d i s t r i c t . The s i tua t i o n the re washorrendous. I t was Nature's macabre Dance of

Death. Our heart bled for the sufferings of the

people. There w a s no pow er supply nor a va ilability

of drinking water. Trees were uprooted. Dead

bodies w ere piled in hea ps a nd r eeked of foul smell.

The bloated bodies were beyond recognition. The

survivors w ere da zed a nd shocked beyond w ords.

We wondered w hy t he sea ha d w rought such ha voc.We returned to Hy deraba d w ith a heavy hear t.

Indira G a ndhi a lso visited t he a rea to console

the cyclone-hit fa milies. Despite being out of pow er

and a victim of political witch-hunt, she chose to

share the woes of the people who had steadfastly



53/268


support ed her a nd t o express sympat hy w ith t hem.P eople lined up a ll along the route t o w elcome her.

As the area was without power, they welcomed

her holding petromax lamps. The enthusiast ic

reception proved I ndira G a ndh i's ma gica l hold on

th e people. Ch a nna Reddy w ho sa w th is for himself

briefed Devaraj Urs also.

C h a n n a R e d d y a n d U r s m e t K a m a l a p a t h i

Tripat hi in D elhi to suggest th a t t he pa rt y should

be split a nd t he Indira faction declared a s th e rea l

Congress. Tripat hi wa s not w illing, but a few more

rounds of persuasion brought him round. Party

seniors cautioned Indira Gandhi against taking

a ny ha sty move. She wa s in a fix, but did not st op

consulta tions w ith her close a ides.

The new party is bornTowards the close of 1977, S. N. Sastry, who

w a s posted to New Delhi as E enadu correspondent,

met Indira G a ndhi a nd told her tha t t ime w a s ripe

to strike. Hers wa s the real par ty a nd she should

unfur l the f l ag o f the new par ty , he to ld her .

Emboldened by this, she proceeded to Vithalbhai

Patel House with Devaraj Urs and unfurled the

new flag. This is the real Congress, she declared,and named i t Indi ra Congress . The ga ther ing

cheered her wildly.

Abdul Rehma n Antula y w a s genera l secreta ry

of Indira Congress an d B uta Singh joint secreta ry.

Instructions were issued to raise Rs 50,000 each



54/268


fo r the Par ty Fund for se t t ing up S ta te uni t s .Cha nna Reddy, then in Delhi, a sked me to a rra nge

for Rs 50,000 imm edia tely. I d rew Rs 10,000 from

my wi fe ' s account and sent the cash to Delh i

through Mall ikharjun. Channa Reddy returned

a fter gett ing clea ra nce for his nomina tion a s th e

president a nd mine as t he genera l secreta ry of the

St a te unit of the Indira C ongress.

We convened a meeting in th e Ga ndhi B ha va n.

None of Ch a nna Reddy's follow ers t urn ed up. They

ev en re fus ed to a t t end . We go t o ur in t ima te

a ssociat e Tirupura na Ra gha va Da s to preside. We

w ere th e speakers.

Very soon, the exodus from Vengala Rao's

Ca binet began w ith some Ministers resigning a nd

joining our party, one by one. Indira Gandhi hada lrea dy nominat ed Cha nna Reddy a s the president

a nd me a s the genera l secreta ry of AP unit of the

par ty .



55/268


The Indira Congress surge 1978

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka legis la tures

w ent to the polls in t he first w eek of Ma rch 1978.

We in the Indira Congress did not have enough

resources to f ight the elections. We formed acommittee to select candidates. Senior politicians

of the da y w ere quite skeptica l a bout the w inning

prospects of a f ledgling party l ike ours. Some

Ministers in t he Venga la Ra o Ca binet w ere a lrea dy

w ith us a nd m a ny enth usiastic youngsters joined

our ranks. We did encounter problems selecting

the right candidates, running the campaign and

orga nising publicity ma terial . A new pa rty ha s itsown blessings. Where else can newcomers find

opportunity to enter poli t ics? People were yet

unconvinced about In dira G a ndhi's a bility t o pull

off a victory. Nobody gave the party a ghost of a

chance.

I and G . Rajaram were a l so dra f ted on the

election committee. We could not find anyone to

cont est in S rika kula m. We picked a bus condu ctor.P . R a j a g o p a l a N a i d u f r o m C h i t t o o r d i s t r i c t

demanded four seats for the Kamma community

a nd r ecommended four y oung a spira nt s, including

Nara Cha ndraba bu Naidu. I w a s a sked to look into

their background. I got favourable reports except

chapter 5


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in respect of Cha ndra ba bu Na idu. The only positivepoint in the report on Chandrababu Naidu was

tha t he ha d cha mpioned the ca use of the Ka mma s

v i s - - v i s t h e R e d d y s i n S r i V e n k a t e s w a r a

Univers i ty in Tirupat i . Channa Reddy c leared

Cha ndra babu's na me as he w a s w illing to bear poll

expenses to a tune of Rs 5,000.

Chief Minister J a laga m Venga la Ra o sta yed

on with Brahmananda Reddy fact ion. Together

they fina lised the ca ndidat es for th e pa rty a nd th e

J a na ta P a rty , in pow er a t t he Centre, also f ielded

ca ndida tes. B oth par ties brimmed w ith confidence.

N o t m a n y e v e n b o t h e r e d a b o u t t h e I n d i r a

Congress.

C h a n n a R e d d y d e c i d e d t o c o n t e s t f r o m

Medchal. Logically, I should have contested fromTenali, Duggirala or Vemur in my native Guntur

distr ict , but Cha nna Reddy w a s keen on fielding

me from Vij

Walking With Destiny

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