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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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Walking with Destiny
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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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
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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
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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
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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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23 Walking with Destiny
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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26 Walking with Destiny
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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27 Walking with Destiny
'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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31 Walking with Destiny
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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32 Walking with Destiny
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
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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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36 Walking with Destiny
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
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37 Walking with Destiny
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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38 Walking with Destiny
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
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39 Walking with Destiny
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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40 Walking with Destiny
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
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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
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43 Walking with Destiny
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.
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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
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46 Walking with Destiny
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
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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
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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 .
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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
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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