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Tanguturi Prakasam

Barrister and Congress leader of the Telugu districts of Madras. He chaired the Madras meeting against the Rowlatt Bills in 1919, gave up his practice during non-cooperation, led the salt satyagraha in Madras city in 1930 and became Revenue Minister in 1937. He later served as Chief Minister of Madras and then as the first Chief Minister of the Andhra State. His ministry sat at Kurnool, and it fell after a vote of no confidence in November 1954.

Tanguturi Prakasam was a barrister who became a political leader in Andhra in 1919.12 He led the salt satyagraha (civil disobedience over the salt tax) in Madras city in 1930.3 He later became Chief Minister of the composite Madras State, and then the first Chief Minister of the Andhra State.4

Lawyer and early politics

In 1909, practising as a barrister, Tanguturi Prakasam defended the accused in the Tenali bomb case.1 Three men were charged in this case after a bomb explosion at Kancharlapalem.1 One of them was sentenced to ten years’ transportation (being sent to a prison overseas).1

At an Andhra conference at Guntur in 1918, he seconded a resolution calling for the reforms proposed jointly by the Congress and the Muslim League.5

On 23 April 1919 he took the chair at a large public meeting on the Madras beach against the Rowlatt Bills.2 He was voted to the chair on the motion of S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar.2 He read out the satyagraha pledge.2 He argued that passive resistance was lawful so long as it did not involve physical force.2 Sarojini Regani’s history of the freedom movement dates his emergence as a political leader in Andhra from this meeting.2

Non-cooperation and after

Prakasam took part in the meeting of the All India Congress Committee at Vijayawada in March–April 1921.6 He was among the lawyers who gave up their practice in answer to Gandhi’s call.6

Early in 1922, Guntur district was debating a no-tax campaign.7 Prakasam sat on a committee sent to Pedanandipadu, where the campaign was under way.7 In Regani’s account, the committee was impressed by the villagers’ discipline.7 But it feared that they might get out of control under severe repression, and so favoured suspending the campaign.7

The police history puts it more briefly: Prakasam’s committee reported that a district-wide refusal to pay taxes was not possible.4 In the mid-1920s he was among the Andhra leaders who held that dominion status (self-rule within the British Empire) was enough.8 In their view the Congress need not change its aim.8

As president of the Andhra Provincial Congress Committee in 1926, he issued a manifesto against the government’s repressive policy.9 He toured the Telugu districts for the elections.9 The Congress won across the presidency, though it declined to take office.9

Simon Commission and salt satyagraha

The Simon Commission arrived in February 1928.10 Prakasam appealed to the councillors of the Madras Corporation not to present it with an address of welcome, and the city observed a complete strike under his lead.10 The police fired on a crowd and killed a man.10 Regani relates that Prakasam walked towards the spot, and when the police barred his way he bared his chest and dared them to shoot.10 They let him through.10

After the Lahore Congress, he resigned from the Madras Legislative Council with other Andhra members in 1930.11 In the salt satyagraha of that year, his Madras residence, Vedavanam, became the camp for the city.3 On 13 April 1930 he and K. Nageswara Rao led the first batch of volunteers who made salt on the Madras shore.3 With Durgabai he later led a batch of women to the beach opposite the High Court.3 He was arrested in 1930 and again in 1932.12

Minister and Chief Minister

In 1937 Prakasam was president of the Andhra Congress Working Committee when the Congress swept the elections.13 He joined C. Rajagopalachari’s ministry in Madras.13 As Revenue Minister, he reinstated village officers who had lost their posts during civil disobedience.13

He was imprisoned in the individual satyagraha of 1940–41, and detained during the Quit India movement in 1942.14 Before the 1946 elections he toured the Andhra districts for the Congress.15 He warned voters against the communists and other advocates of violence.15 In 1947 he was among the Andhra leaders who backed the Hyderabad State Congress in its campaign for Hyderabad to join India.16

The police history records that Prakasam later became Chief Minister of the composite Madras State and then the first Chief Minister of the Andhra State.4

In July 1953 the Madras Assembly debated the Andhra State Bill.17 During the debate Prakasam moved amendments to include Bellary taluk in the new state.17 He also asked for boundary commissions for Telugu-speaking areas left outside it.17 He told the House that the Government of India had been wrong to treat the Bellary question as settled.17 His work is also described on the page Reform, freedom & people’s movements.

Chief Minister of the Andhra State, 1953–1954

The Andhra State was inaugurated on 1 October 1953, and its government began work at Kurnool.18 The first Andhra Legislative Assembly met there on 23 November 1953.19 Its list of members shows T. Prakasam as the member for Srungavarapukota.19

On 30 November 1953 the Assembly debated where the capital should be.20 Prakasam voted for an amendment to keep the temporary capital at Kurnool until 1 April 1956.20 It was carried by 61 votes to 58, with 20 members neutral.20 The debate is described on the page Kurnool.

The Assembly met again at Kurnool on 1 November 1954.21 That day Prakasam told the House that his Deputy Chief Minister, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, would be Leader of the House and would answer for him.21 On 3 November the Opposition moved amendments to the vote of thanks for the Governor’s address.22 The House rejected them, twice by 67 votes to 61, and Prakasam voted with the majority.22

The police history says that a motion of no confidence was passed against the ministry.23 On 15 November 1954 the Governor of Andhra, C. M. Trivedi, took over the powers of the state on behalf of the President of India.23 Mid-term elections followed early in 1955.23

Footnotes

  1. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), pp. 42–43 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 59 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 115, 120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. The History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1861–1961) (1961), p. 206 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 56 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 72, 78 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 93 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 103 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 105 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 109–111 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  11. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 113 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 117, 130 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  13. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 142 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. Regani, Highlights (1956), pp. 145, 148 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  15. Regani, Highlights (1956), p. 162 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

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

  17. Madras Legislative Assembly Debates, 17 July 1953, pp. 469, 475, 480–481 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  18. History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1961), p. 250 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  19. Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, 23 November 1953, p. 1 and list of members (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  20. Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, 30 November 1953, pp. 412–415 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, 1 November 1954, p. 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  22. Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, 3 November 1954, pp. 385–393 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  23. History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1961), p. 254 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

References

Sources (7)
  1. 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. 43, 56, 59, 72, 78, 93, 103, 105, 109–111, 113, 115, 117–118, 120, 130, 142, 145, 148, 162, 201–202. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  2. Inspector-General of Police, Andhra Pradesh, The History of the Andhra Pradesh Police (1861-1961) (opens in a new tab), Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1961, pp. 206, 250, 254. [Public domain in India]
  3. Madras Legislative Assembly, The Andhra State Bill, 1953 (Assembly debates, 17 July 1953) (opens in a new tab), Madras Legislative Assembly, 1953, pp. 469–481. [Public domain in India]
  4. Andhra Legislative Assembly, Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, Official Report, Vol. I, No. 1: Monday, 23rd November 1953 (with the index to Vol. I) (opens in a new tab), Andhra Government Press (printed by Gordon Press, Guntur), 1954, pp. 1; list of members. [Public domain in India]
  5. Andhra Legislative Assembly, Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, Official Report, Vol. I, No. 6: Monday, 30th November 1953 (opens in a new tab), Andhra Government Press (printed by Gordon Press, Guntur), 1954, pp. 412–415. [Public domain in India]
  6. Andhra Legislative Assembly, Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, Official Report, Vol. X, No. 1: Monday, 1st November 1954 (opens in a new tab), Andhra Government Press (printed by Gordon Press, Guntur), 1954, pp. 1. [Public domain in India]
  7. Andhra Legislative Assembly, Andhra Legislative Assembly Debates, Official Report, Vol. X, No. 3: Wednesday, 3rd November 1954 (opens in a new tab), Andhra Government Press (printed by Gordon Press, Guntur), 1954, pp. 385–393. [Public domain in India]

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