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Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao

Congress leader and lawyer of Vijayawada, born in 1881. He took part in every Congress campaign from the Swadeshi movement of 1905 to Quit India, and was jailed in 1922, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1940–41 and 1942–43. He led the Swaraj Party in Andhra, helped the Hyderabad State Congress in 1947–48, and was Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, 1956–62.

Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao was a lawyer and Congress leader of Vijayawada.1 He took part in the national movement from the Swadeshi campaign of 1905 to Quit India in 1942.1 He went to jail at least six times between 1922 and 1943.12 He was later the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1956 to 1962.2

Most of the dates here come from the Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, published by the state government in 1980.1 Sarojini Regani’s Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh adds events in which he took part.3

Swadeshi, Home Rule and Gandhi, 1905–1920

He was born on 22 January 1881 at Nandigama, the son of Lakshmayya.1 He took the B.A. and B.L. degrees and practised as an advocate.1 In April 1907 the Bengal leader Bipin Chandra Pal toured the Telugu districts.4 At Vijayawada, Kaleswara Rao was one of those who received him.4

During the Home Rule years he called a special session of the Andhra Conference at Vijayawada.5 Its aim was to calm the fears of the non-Brahmins, after quarrels between Brahmin and non-Brahmin groups.5 In 1919 Gandhi spoke at the Ram Mohan library in Vijayawada, and Kaleswara Rao translated his speech into Telugu.6

On 1 August 1920 Gandhi announced the policy of non-violent non-cooperation at a meeting in Vijayawada.3 He asked Kaleswara Rao to give up his candidature for the Madras legislature.3 Regani writes that Kaleswara Rao agreed, and was among the first Telugus to answer Gandhi’s call.3 He also gave up his legal practice.72

Jail terms, 1922–1943

The Who’s Who lists these terms of imprisonment:

  • one year’s simple imprisonment from 4 February 1922, in the non-cooperation movement1
  • one year from 21 April 1930, in the salt satyagraha1
  • one year’s simple imprisonment from 9 January 1932, in the civil disobedience movement12
  • one year’s simple imprisonment from 4 December 1933, until his release on 23 February 19342
  • detention from 5 December 1940 to 1 November 1941, in the individual satyagraha2
  • detention from 11 August 1942 to 23 June 1943, after his arrest on 9 August 19422

On 6 April 1930 he, Mutnuri Krishna Rao and Pattabhi Sitaramayya picked up salt on the seashore in Krishna district.8 Regani lists him among the leaders arrested during the salt satyagraha.9

The Swaraj Party and public offices

Regani names him among those who formed an Andhra branch of the Swaraj Party.10 She calls him the president of the Andhra Swarajist Party.11 He was chairman of the Vijayawada municipal council from 1925 to 1930.2 He sat in the Madras Legislative Council from 1926 to 1929 and in the Madras Assembly in 1937–39 and 1946–51.2 He was general secretary of the Andhra Provincial Congress Committee from 1923 to 1935.2

Help to the Hyderabad State Congress, 1947–1948

In 1947–48 the Hyderabad State Congress campaigned for Hyderabad to join India.12 It set up a zonal office at Vijayawada for the Telangana region.12 Regani writes that Kaleswara Rao let his house be used as this office.13 The Who’s Who gives the same account.2

After independence

He was Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1956 to 1962.2 The Who’s Who says he was a founder of the Andhra library movement and worked for Dalits.2 He wrote books on Vedanta and politics, and an autobiography, Naa Jivita Katha.2 He died on 26 February 1962.2

Footnotes

  1. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 182 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. Regani (ed.), Who’s Who, Vol. II (1980), p. 183 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15

  3. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 68 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), pp. 33–34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  5. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 55 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 59 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 78 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  8. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 118 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 117 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  10. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 102 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 105 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 200 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 201–202 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

References

Sources (2)
  1. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who's Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II: Karimnagar, Khammam, Krishna, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Medak and Nalgonda districts (opens in a new tab), State Committee for the Compilation of the History of the Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1980, pp. 182–183. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (opens in a new tab), Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1956, pp. 34, 55, 59, 68, 78, 102, 105, 117–118, 200–202. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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