Tanguturi Prakasam
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| Tanguturi Prakasam | |
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 The portrait of Tanguturi Prakasam, by S.N. Chamkur, located in Rajya Sabha
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| Born | 23 August 1872 Vinoda Rayudu Palem, Andhra Pradesh |
| Died | 20 May 1957 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh |
Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu (23 August 1872 – 20 May 1957) was an Indian freedom fighter and the first Chief Minister of the state of Andhra. He was widely revered as Andhra Kesari (literally, Lion of Andhra).
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[edit] Early life
He was born in a Niyogi Brahmin family in the current-day Andhra Pradesh. His ancestors were hereditary karnams (village officers) in the Tanguturu village under then Guntur District. When he was 11, his father died and his mother had to run a boarding house (restaurant) at Ongole to make ends meet and ensure that her kids had good education. This was despite the fact that the profession was looked down upon in those days. Endowed with a fair complexion and good physique, Prakasam enacted both male and female roles to critical acclaim in several plays. He also used to play cricket.
When E. Hanumantha Rao Naidu, his mentor and teacher at school, shifted to Rajahmundry, he took Prakasam along with him as that place had better opportunities for education. Though interested in becoming a lawyer since childhood, Prakasam failed to clear his matriculation examination as he fell into bad company and regularly entered into brawls apart from devoting a lot of time to acting in plays. He however managed to go to Madras and become a second-grade pleader. He became a successful lawyer in Rajahmundry and made a lot of money in a short time. He also became well regarded in a short period of time and was elected the Chairman of Rajahmundry when he was 30. This was the beginning of his stint in public life.
[edit] In England
During one of his visits to Madras on a court case, a barrister was impressed with his legal acumen and suggested that he become a barrister. As a second-grade pleader, Prakasam could not argue cases at higher courts as only barristers were allowed to do so. Prakasam took the idea to his heart and decided to go to England to pursue legal studies. It was considered a sacrilege to cross the seas during those days. However, he comforted his mother and similar to the way Mahatma Gandhi made a promise to his mother, Prakasam also made a promise to his mother that he would abstain from eating non-vegetarian food, smoking and drinking. He reached England in 1904 and took to his studies diligently. He joined the India Society and worked for the election of Dadabhai Naoroji, a famous nationalist, to the parliament. His exposure to other nationalist leaders and experiences in England further aroused his interest in public life.
[edit] In the service of public
After completing the barrister course with a certificate of honour in London, Prakasam relocated to Madras high court. He was the first prominent Telugu barrister to be successful; until then, most of the successful lawyers were either Europeans or Tamilians. He dealt with both civil and criminal cases. Of the latter, one of the important cases was the Ash murder case. Ash was the Collector of Tirunelveli and was shot dead in 1907. This was at a time when Bipin Chandra Pal, the nationalist leader from Bengal was touring the region, making fiery speeches on nationalism. Prakasam defended one of the accused and ensured that he got away with a light sentence. Prakasam also edited Law times, a legal magazine. The same year he presided over Bipin Chandra Pal’s lecture at Madras when others were afraid to come forward, given that the government of the day considered Pal’s speeches to be emotional, bordering on seditious. He started attending the Congress Party sessions regularly after the Lucknow pact and signed the Satyagraha pledge in October 1921. He gave up his lucrative law practice. He also started and was the working editor of a newspaper Swarajya (literally self-rule). Swarajya was published simultaneously in English, Telugu and Tamil.
He also ran a national school and a Khadi production centre. He was elected the general secretary of the Congress Party in December 1921 at the Ahmedabad session. Whenever there was unrest or strife such as a riot, he tried to be there so as to comfort people. He visited Punjab during Akali Satyagraha and the Hindu-Muslim riots in Multan. He toured Kerala during the Moplah rebellion despite a ban on visitors from outside the area and had his property at Ooty attached by the government as a consequence. In 1922, during the civil disobedience movement, he organised a demonstration by 30,000 congress volunteers at Guntur. In 1926, he was elected to the central legislative assembly on a congress party ticket. His colleagues in the assembly included leaders such as Vithalbhai Patel, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Jinnah and G. D. Birla.
[edit] Andhra Kesari appellation and struggle for independence
When Simon Commission visited India, the congress party decided to boycott it with the slogan "Simon, Go back;" There were a host of reasons for this boycott, the most important being that the commission did not have a single Indian in its ranks. The commission was greeted with demonstration of black flags wherever it went. When the commission visited Madras, the police did not allow protests in some sensitive areas. Nevertheless, the crowd grew large and restive near the Madras High Court (at Parry's Corner) and the police resorted to firing with a view to control it. However, a young man was killed on the spot. The police warned the people that they would shoot if anyone tried to come near the body. At this, Prakasam grew enraged and tore open his shirt, baring his chest and daring the police to shoot at him. Understanding the situation, the police gave way to him and other supporters. After this incident, people respected him with the epithet of "Andhra Kesari" (Lion of Andhra).
In 1930, when the congress party wanted all the legislators to resign, he did so but was not convinced about its alternative programme and hence contested and won the by-election. He joined the Nationalist Party led by Madan Mohan Malaviya but resigned from it and persuaded others to do so after Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party decided to break the salt tax law with Dandi March. Prakasam also resigned as a legislator and was at the forefront in breaking the tax law at Madras. In the meantime, he had to suspend the publication of Swarajya due to the high deposit demanded by the government. It was revived after the Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1931 but it had to be suspended again due to cash flow problems. Unsuccessful trials were made to restart it again in 1935.
In 1937, Congress Party contested the provincial elections and achieved majority in Madras province, among others. Though Prakasam was in the running for Chief Minister’s post, he made way for Rajaji, who returned to active politics as per the wishes of Congress high command. Prakasam became the revenue minister – his major contribution was the founding and chairing of the Zamindari Enquiry Committee which looked at the structural distortions in agriculture perpetrated due to the Zamindari system followed by the British Government. With the onset of the second world war, the congress ministries resigned from office as they were not consulted by the government about India’s participation. Prakasam was the first prominent leader from South India to offer individual Satyagraha against the war effort in 1941.
He was arrested for more than three years for participating in the Quit India movement of 1942. After his release in 1945, he toured South India to get back in touch with the masses. In 1946, congress party again contested and won in the Madras Presidency. This time, Prakasam became the chief minister as he and Kamaraj, a Tamil leader, were against Rajaji - the choice of leaders such as Gandhi and Nehru - becoming the chief minister. However, the government lasted for only 11 months, as it was felt that Prakasam was not accommodating enough to various varying interests. He was not gracious in losing power and levelled corruption charges against the new ministry.
[edit] Post-independence
However, he was more interested in the welfare of common people and visited Hyderabad state during the Nizam rule in 1948, without heeding warnings for personal safety by Jawaharlal Nehru. He met Qasim Rizvi, the leader of Razakars (who were allegedly under the pay of Nizam and terrorised general public) and warned him about pushing his luck too far. The Razakars were impressed by his courage and accorded him a march of honour.
In 1952, he formed the Praja Party (People’s party) and ensured that all the sitting ministers of the Congress Party were defeated. However, Praja party could not come into power by its own and the coalition that he cobbled up collapsed even before a show of strength could be contemplated.
Meanwhile, in December 1952, Potti Sriramulu died fasting for the cause of a separate state for the Telugu-speaking people. On 1 October 1953, the state of Andhra was created and Prakasam, due to his reputation, was made the first chief minister. However, due to opposition from the communists and halting support from the socialists, the government fell after a year. Mid-term elections were held in 1955 by which time Prakasam had more or less retired from active politics. On 1 November 1956, the erstwhile Hyderabad state was merged in the Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, a staunch follower of Prakasam became the chief minister. Though retired from politics, Prakasam was active in touring the state. On one such visit to Ongole, he suffered from severe sunstroke. He was admitted in a Hyderabad hospital and died on 20 May 1957.
However, his legacy as a freedom fighter is cherished to this day, especially in Andhra Pradesh.
[edit] Prakasam District
In his memory a new district called Prakasam District has been formed on 2 February 1970. It was carved out of three taluks of Guntur District, i.e. Addanki, Chirala and Ongole, four taluks of Nellore district, i.e. Kandukur, Kanigiri, Podili and Darsi and two taluks i.e. Markapur and Giddalur of Kurnool district. It is one of the nine coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh.
[edit] Titles Held
| Preceded by: C. Rajagopalachari |
Chief Minister of Madras Presidency 30 April 1946–23 March 1947 |
Succeeded by: O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar |
| Preceded by: None |
Chief Minister of Andhra 1 October 1953–15 November 1954 |
Succeeded by: Bezawada Gopala Reddy |
[edit] References
- T. Praskasam by P. Rajeswara Rao under National Biography Series published by the National Book Trust, India (1972).
- Andhra Kesari (Telugu) Non-detailed textbook for ninth standard students published by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh (1987).
