Communists
CPI in Andhra and its role in peasant and worker struggles.
One-line Focus
CPI, founded at Kanpur (Dec 1925), built its strongest South-Indian base in Andhra & Telangana — from the 1934 Vijayawada unit to the Telangana Armed Struggle (1946–51), the largest peasant insurgency in Indian history.
Doddi Komarayya (4 July 1946)
A poor peasant of Kadavendi village (Jangaon taluk, Nalgonda) was shot by the deshmukh's henchmen while resisting land seizure. His death sparked the Telangana Armed Struggle — the largest peasant insurrection in Indian history.
Andhra Thesis (1951)
Drafted by C. Rajeswara Rao at Palakol, the 'Andhra Thesis' argued that the objective conditions for armed revolution had passed and the CPI should enter parliamentary politics. Its acceptance ended the Telangana struggle and shaped Indian communism for decades.
26 Dec 1925, Kanpur Conference — S. V. Ghate first Gen. Sec.
1934, Vijayawada (P. Sundarayya, C. Rajeswara Rao)
Telangana Armed Struggle 1946 – Oct 1951
≈ 3,000 'gram-rajyams' liberated at peak
Doddi Komarayya (Kadavendi, Jangaon) — 4 July 1946
CPI vs. CPI(M) at Tenali Convention, 1964
≈10 lakh acres to landless peasants
Feudal bonded labour ended across Telangana
Usurious moneylender debts written off in liberated villages
Equal wages, remarriage, joint tilling recognised
Set stage for Telangana Regional Committee (1956) & later statehood movement
1925
CPI founded at Kanpur (26 Dec) — S. V. Ghate Gen. Sec.
1929–33
Meerut Conspiracy Case — Sundarayya & Rajeswara Rao radicalised
1934
Andhra CPI unit set up at Vijayawada
1936
AIKS founded, Lucknow — Sundarayya joins secretariat
1939
Andhra Mahasabha (Telangana) — Communists win control of youth wing
1942
CPI legalised; supports 'People's War' line
1944
Ravi Narayana Reddy elected President of Andhra Mahasabha (Bhongir)
4 July 1946
Doddi Komarayya killed at Kadavendi — trigger of armed struggle
1947–48
Peak of struggle: 3000 villages, land redistribution, abolition of Vetti
13 Sep 1948
Operation Polo (Police Action) — Nizam surrenders on 17 Sep
1948–51
Struggle continues against Indian Army; Sundarayya underground
Oct 1951
CPI Central Committee (Andhra Thesis) formally withdraws armed struggle
1952
Ravi Narayana Reddy wins Nalgonda LS by 3.09 lakh — India's largest margin
1957
P. Sundarayya becomes Leader of Opposition in AP Assembly
1964
Tenali Convention — CPI(M) breaks away; Sundarayya first Gen. Sec.
- 26 Dec 1925
CPI founded, Kanpur
- 1929–33
Meerut Conspiracy Case
- 1934
Andhra CPI unit, Vijayawada
- 1944
Ravi Narayana Reddy — Andhra Mahasabha President (Bhongir)
- 4 July 1946
Doddi Komarayya killed → Telangana Armed Struggle
- 13–17 Sep 1948
Operation Polo / Police Action
- Oct 1951
Andhra Thesis; struggle withdrawn
- 1952
Ravi Narayana Reddy record LS win, Nalgonda
- Nov 1964
Tenali split — CPI(M) formed
Puchalapalli Sundarayya (1913–1985)
Founder-figure, Nellore
Author of 'Telangana People's Struggle & Its Lessons' (1972); first Gen. Sec. of CPI(M)
Chandra Rajeswara Rao (1914–1994)
West Godavari
CPI Gen. Sec. 1964–90; principal Telangana strategist
Ravi Narayana Reddy (1908–1991)
Nalgonda
President Andhra Mahasabha 1944; record Nalgonda LS win 1952
Baddam Yella Reddy
Karimnagar
Underground commander during 1948–51 phase
Makineni Basava Punnaiah
Krishna Dt.
Politburo member; principal theoretician
Mallu Swarajyam
Woman fighter, Suryapet
Youngest woman guerrilla; later CPI(M) MLA
Arutla Ramachandra Reddy & Arutla Kamala Devi
Husband–wife pair
Led women's mobilisation in Nalgonda
D. Venkateswara Rao
Rythu-Coolie Sangham
Post-1951 legal front organiser
P. Sundarayya
Founder Andhra CPI; 1st CPI(M) Gen. Sec.
C. Rajeswara Rao
CPI Gen. Sec. 1964–90; author of Andhra Thesis
Ravi Narayana Reddy
Andhra Mahasabha; record 1952 win
Baddam Yella Reddy
Guerrilla commander
Mallu Swarajyam
Youngest woman guerrilla
Chityala Ailamma
Palakurthi land-struggle heroine
1944–46 · Political phase
Andhra Mahasabha captured by Communists under Ravi Narayana Reddy; anti-Vetti campaigns spread.
July 1946 · Trigger
Killing of Doddi Komarayya at Kadavendi; villages rise against deshmukhs & jagirdars.
1946–47 · Village committees
'Gram-rajyams' formed; land redistributed (10 lakh acres), forced labour (Vetti) abolished, women's rights recognised.
Sep 1948 · Police Action
Operation Polo ends Nizam's rule; Union Army now confronts the peasant army.
1948–51 · Second phase
Sundarayya, Rajeswara Rao lead 5,000-strong guerrilla force; ≈4,000 killed by Army & Razakars combined.
Oct 1951 · Withdrawal
CPI adopts 'Andhra Thesis' — armed struggle called off; party enters parliamentary politics.
- Built the first modern agricultural-labour and hand-loom unions in Andhra.
- Pioneered Rythu-Coolie Sanghams that survive today.
- Produced South India's first woman guerrillas — Mallu Swarajyam, Arutla Kamala Devi, Chityala Ailamma.
- Provided literary movement 'Praja Natya Mandali' (1943) — birthplace of Burrakatha renaissance.
- Trained cadre that later drove the 1969 Telangana and 1972 Jai Andhra agitations.
The Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929–33) radicalised a generation of Andhra youth including Puchalapalli Sundarayya, Chandra Rajeswara Rao and Makineni Basava Punnaiah. On their release, they set up the Andhra Communist unit at Vijayawada in 1934 and quickly captured the Andhra Provincial Kisan Sabha.
The 1934–39 phase saw the Communists work inside the Congress Socialist Party. When the CPI was legalised in 1942 (for supporting the war effort), it re-emerged as an independent force — and in Telangana it took over the Andhra Mahasabha's Nizam-affiliated moderate leadership between 1944 and 1946, turning the Sabha into the political vehicle of the coming armed struggle.
| Aspect | CPI (Dange line) | CPI(M) (Sundarayya line) |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of Indian state | Bourgeois-democratic; ally national bourgeoisie | Bourgeois-landlord; oppose both |
| China–India war 1962 | Pro-USSR / pro-Nehru | Neutral; several arrested |
| Coalition politics | Congress alliance acceptable | Only left-front alliances |
| Andhra headquarters | Hyderabad (Makineni faction) | Vijayawada (Sundarayya faction) |
| Founding conference | Bombay 1958 (continuation) | Calcutta 7th Congress, Nov 1964 |
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1946–51 = Communist peasant war vs. Nizam & landlords. Post-1969 = political movement for separate Telangana state within India.
CPI founded at Kanpur 1925 (Dange). CPI(M) broke away at Tenali Convention Nov 1964 (Sundarayya) over ideological line vs. Indian state.
Coastal Andhra Mahasabha = linguistic-state movement (1913 Bapatla). Telangana Andhra Mahasabha = social-reform body under Nizam, later communist-led.
S-R-R-B-M
Sundarayya · Rajeswara Rao · Ravi Narayana Reddy · Baddam · Makineni — the CPI Andhra five.
- CPI founded 26 Dec 1925, Kanpur — S. V. Ghate Gen. Sec.
- Andhra unit 1934, Vijayawada (Sundarayya, Rajeswara Rao).
- Telangana Armed Struggle: 4 July 1946 → Oct 1951; ~3000 villages liberated.
- Doddi Komarayya (Kadavendi) — first martyr, 4 July 1946.
- Ravi Narayana Reddy — record 3.09 lakh majority, Nalgonda LS 1952.
- CPI–CPI(M) split — Tenali Convention 1964; Sundarayya first CPI(M) Gen. Sec.
CPI founding year, place, first Gen. Sec.
MCQTelangana Armed Struggle dates & phases
MCQDoddi Komarayya — village & date
FactAndhra Thesis 1951 — author & meaning
MainsCPI vs. CPI(M) — split reasons
MainsRavi Narayana Reddy 1952 record
MCQ