Communist Gandhi & great revolutionary
Young Sundarayya, influenced by several social reformers like Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurajada Appa Rao, Komarraju Lakshmana Rao, and inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, at the age of 14, went to the Congress conference held in the then Madras state and participated in the ‘Simon Go Back’ agitation. In 1928, at the age of 15, he participated in the Simon Commission boycott movement. He also participated in Salt Satyagraha Movement in West Godavari.
Putchalapalli Sundarayya, born on 1 May 1913 at Alaganipadu in Kovuuru taluk of the then Krishna district (now under Nellore district) in a rich farmer’s family, completed his education in Rajahmundry and Madras. Studying intermediate at Loyola College in Madras, he formed ‘Council of Fraternity’ along with other students with an aim of developing love for the country, understanding politics, selling khadi on Sundays, eradicating social evils and educating agricultural workers in villages during the vacation. On the birth anniversary of the Telugu people’s poet, Vemana, Sundarayya organised a common lunch for the caste Hindus and the Harijans in his village. Opposing this, the rich farmers and orthodox people resorted to highhandedness. As a result, he went on protest hunger strike for two days.
Following a call given by Mahatma Gandhi in April 1930, Sundarayya decided to give up his education and join the freedom movement. In a letter, he informed about his decision to his mother and elder brother and joined the Satyagraha camp at Bhimavaram and served imprisonment for two years. After release, he started working in villages, organising unions of agricultural workers and fighting against untouchability. He firmly believed that mere ending of the colonial rule was not enough and that apart from gaining independence, there was an imminent need to eradicate the evils of class oppression and poverty from the society.
Guided by Comrade Amir Hyder Khan, Sundarayya joined the Communist Party at a time when there was a ban imposed by the British rulers on the party. Nevertheless, he took up the task of building the Communist Party in the Southern States of Andhra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, at the instance of the Central Committee of the Party. Sundarayya, along with a stalwart S V Ghate, was responsible for the entry of many highly intellectual persons like E M S Namboodiripad, P Krishna Pillai and A K Gopalan into the party. When different Communist groups came together and merged into an all-India centre in 1936, he became a member of the Central Committee.
During the same year, he started All-India Kisan Sabha and worked as its joint secretary for some time. He took the initiative for organising a march for protection of farmers, covering 1,500 miles from Itchapuram to Madras and aroused the class consciousness of peasants in about 1,500 villages. Hunted by the police, he led an underground life between 1939 and 1942. When the ban on the Communist Party was lifted in 1943, he was elected to the Central Committee in the first all-India conference of the party held in Bombay. Since then and until his death he served the party and the Communist movement – CPI and later CPI (M) – in various capacities. He visited Russia, Rome, and United Kingdom and Cairo.
Sundarayya married Leila on 27 February 1943. Both of them simply told P C Joshi, the then General Secretary of the Communist Party, that they would lead the life of wife and husband. Leila also became a whole timer of the party. However, he felt that the choice of having or not having children should be left to the discretion of his wife. After two years of their marriage, he underwent vasectomy operation, after he and his wife discussed the issue and came to an understanding that they would not have enough opportunity to raise their children properly. He used to advise the cadres of the party to get married and have a limited number of children.
His services to the cause of people’s struggles were extensive. He disposed his entire share in the family property and spent it on building people’s movement. He fought a ceaseless battle for broad ideals and stood as a beacon light to the younger generation. Besides being a reformer, Sundarayya, with his scientific analysis and understanding, wrote his famous book "Visalandhralo Prajarajyam", which was a landmark in the struggle for the formation of Andhra Pradesh.
At the call of the Communist Party, Sundarayya provided the leadership to the heroic Telangana peasants’ armed struggle, where thousands of young men laid down their lives against the feudal State of Nizam. It was with this rich experience in the conduct of that struggle that he wrote a book titled ‘Visalandhralo Praja Rajyam,’ elaborating Telangana People’s Struggle and its lessons in 1946.
He played a significant role in the Telangana Peasant Armed struggle and led the Communist Party. He opined that, “it is not enough if only the leaders moved on. People have to move... the educational levels of the cadre have to improve tremendously.” He strongly believed that it was wrong to think that a few individuals could bring about a revolution or a few parliamentary victories would help achieve that goal. He believed there had to be a general development of political consciousness among the people.
His simplicity was so impressive that he was called by his admirers as ‘Communist Gandhi.’ Sundarayya used to go to the Parliament and Legislative Assembly on bicycle. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from the Madras Assembly constituency after the first general elections in 1952 and became the leader of the Communist group in the Parliament. Moving to the active electoral politics in the State, he served the State Assembly from 1955 to 1967 and from 1978 to 1983.
As a State leader of Andhra Pradesh, Sundarayya shaped the contours of many programmes and schemes for the development of the State. Both in the Parliament and the State Assembly, he made forceful presentations packed with facts and figures, sharp criticism and constructive suggestions, thus raising the quality and content of the proceedings. Until his death on May 19, 1985 he fought for the liberation of the people from poverty and class oppression, remained a blemish-less patriot, a selfless freedom fighter, a great Communist revolutionary, and a beloved leader of the toiling masses.