The buzz is all about the carving of Telengana from Andhra Pradesh. A similar excitement once surrounded the creation of Andhra from the erstwhile Madras Presidency. In Mylapore there stand two buildings that played an important role in the process.
The first is Sri Baugh, the stately garden house on Luz Church Road built in the late 19th century by Justice PR Sundara Iyer. By the 1930s it had changed hands and was owned by ‘Desodhharaka’ Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao Pantulu, the founder of the Andhra Patrika publication and the pain balm – Amrutanjan. It was at this residence and under the leadership of Nageswara Rao that a group of Telugu leaders met up on 16th November 1937 to chart out an action plan for a State of their own. The emphasis was to get leaders from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema areas to come together and demand a common State. To appease the latter faction, it was agreed that as and when an Andhra State would be formed, its capital would be at Kurnool, the heartland of Rayalaseema.
With the Second World War and the granting of Independence thereafter, the matter was shelved but it came to the fore in 1949 and then again, in 1952. In the General Elections that year, the Congress fared badly in Madras Province as it was defeated by the Communists in most of the Telugu-speaking areas. The Governor however invited the Congress on the basis of its being the largest party to form the Government, with C Rajagopalachari as its Chief Minister. The non-Congress parties had banded together and elected T Prakasam, a Telugu, as their leader. The jockeying of a Tamil into the CM’s seat was viewed with suspicion by the Telugus.
It was at this juncture that Potti Sriramulu, a Gandhian, embarked on a fast-unto-death on 19th October, demanding the creation of an Andhra state. This was at the house of Telugu leader Bulusu Sambamurthi, in a street off Royapettah High Road leading to the present-day Vidya Mandir School. The matter was downplayed by the Rajaji Government and on 15th December, Sriramulu died. The Telugu regions erupted in violence. A shaken Prime Minister, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru announced the formation of Andhra on 19th December. The State came into existence, covering the coastal regions and Rayalaseema with Kurnool as capital on 1st October 1953, with Prakasam as CM. Three years later, it was merged with Hyderabad State comprising the Nizam’s dominions thereby forming Andhra Pradesh.
Sri Baugh remains a ghostly mansion within the Amrutanjan premises. The house of Bulusu Sambamurthi became a memorial to Potti Sriramulu. A few years ago, the old tile-roofed house was demolished to make way for a multi-storeyed building. It houses an excellent Telugu library. It also has a memorial for Potti Sriramulu, the man who died in Mylapore for the creation of Andhra.
This article appeared in The Hindu, dated 1st August 2013
Very timely post given the happenings in that part of the country right now. Wish more people read their history as that will give them a better perspective on the present and will also enhance their ability not to repeat historical mistakes.
Nice post…
The article conveniently overlooks the fact that there was lot of acrimony created within the Andhra community at the time of creation of Andhra State in 1953. There were arguments over where the capital of the new state would be. Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam were the main claimants. But then Rayalaseema had to be appeased. Ultimately a compromise of sorts was reached with Kurnool being made the capital and the high court being located at Guntur — two most unsuitable places. Prakasam Pantulu was a sad and disillusioned man. Andhra became a ‘State’ only after the merger of Telengana and Hyderabad was made the capital. Now that is being sought to be undone. The old problems of which would be the capital of Andhra, where would the high court be etc.,etc. will come back to haunt us. How sad! How I wish Rajaji and Prakasam had shed their inflated egos and agreed to a bi-lingual state of Madras, with Andhras and Tamils progressing together as brothers (leaving the Telanganis to stew in their own juice in the chaos of Charminar and the graves of their Shahi nawabs)
Ram Mohan Rao
Please do not equate Rajaji with Prakasam, It was the Andhra leaders who wanted a linguistic state, not Rajaji. In fact Rajaji termed the idea as a ‘tribal idea’ and was totally against it. But then he and Nehru were forced to accept the demand due to Potti Sriramulu’s death, the stubborn Andhra politicians and the agitating people..
Is it not strange that the very first State formed in the country on linguistic basis, is the first, to separate into two states?Potti Sriramulu’s ghost seems to prevail?