Role of communist leaders in Telangana Armed Struggle

Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the last article focusing on Telangana armed struggle, which is one of the important topics in preparation for the State government recruitment examinations. Hyderabad State Communist Party The Telangana leaders like Ravi Narayana Reddy, Baddam Yella Reddy, Vattikota Alwar Swamy, Devulapalli Venkateshwara Rao, etc., developed close relations with the […]

Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the last article focusing on Telangana armed struggle, which is one of the important topics in preparation for the State government recruitment examinations.

Hyderabad State Communist Party

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The Telangana leaders like Ravi Narayana Reddy, Baddam Yella Reddy, Vattikota Alwar Swamy, Devulapalli Venkateshwara Rao, etc., developed close relations with the Andhra communists like Pucchala Palli Sundaraiah, Chandra Rajeshwara Rao, Makineni Basava Punnaiah, etc.

Chandra Rajeshwara Rao conducted the “School of Politics” in Telangana. The communists, in the beginning, utilised the youth forum ‘Comrades Association’ to attract students and industrial labourers to build up trade union organisation in Hyderabad city. In this regard, we come across the name of Maqdum Mohinuddin, Dr. Raja Bahadur Gour, Sambamurthy, Linga Reddy and Srinivasa Lahoti.

The success of Telangana Communists started in 1940 when in the 7th session of Nizam Andhra Mahasabha at Malkapuram the resolution of the communists such as Ravi Narayana Reddy, Kaloji Narayana Rao, NK Rao and Polkampalli Venkata Rama Rao, to boycott the Nizam proposed pro-muslim landlord reforms, won over the resolutions of moderates like Konda Venkata Ranga Reddy, Madapati Hanumantha Rao, Pulijala Venkata Ranga Rao, etc. Thus, by 1940 the Andhra Mahasabha came under the influence of the leftists of the younger generation. In 1941, in the 8th Andhra Mahasabha conference of Chilukuru of Huzurnagar Taluka, the president Ravi Narayana Reddy dealt with many national and international issues.

The communists who supported the Second World War attracted the favour of Nizam’s government which hence initially supported the communists. Finally, in the eleventh session of the Andhra Mahasabha held at Bhuvanagiri in 1944 under the presidentship of Ravi Narayana Reddy, the nationalists of the Sabha such as KV Ranga Reddy and M Ramachandra Rao denounced the session as the meeting of communist party and organised a separate session called the Nationalist Andhra Mahasabha.
The communists’ Andhra Mahasabha was attended by Andhra communists like Chandra Rajeshwara Rao who formulated plans to involve peasants of Telangana in the activities of the Andhra Mahasabha by championing their problems arising out of the “Compulsory levy of Paddy”, the Government Order introduced during the Second World War (1939-45) to get rid of food scarcity.

The levy system had a number of defects. The Patels, Patwaris, Doras, Deshmukhs, Deshpandes and Watandars collected levy indiscriminately without going into the details of either area under cultivation or production at the time of harvest. They harassed the peasants by searching their houses for grain, confiscated properties and food grains and collected levy by force.

After the Bhuvanagiri session (1944) the branches of Andhra Mahasabha called ‘Sanghams’ were established in many villages in Nalgonda and Warangal districts. The Communists popularised and propagated their ideology (peasant problems) through staging play like, ‘Maa Bhumi’ (our land), ‘Mundadugu’ (step forward) through their cultural organisation, ‘Praja Natya Mandali’. The former play was even banned for a while.

In 1945, the communists held their Andhra Mahasabha session at Khammam whereas non-communists at Warangal. The communists created ‘Dalams’ (20-30 party workers) villages. Women and tribals also supported their ‘Sanghams’. These ‘Sanghams’ and ‘Dalams’ played key roles in waging peasant struggle in Telangana against the feudal lords, officials and moneylenders.

To be continued…

Prof. Adapa Satyanarayana
Retired Professor

Department of History, Osmania University

Ph. 9573405551