Gurram Yadagiri Reddy (5 February 1931 – 22 November 2019) was a freedom fighter of

Telangana rebellion The Telangana Rebellion popularly known as Telangana Sayuda Poratam (Telugu : తెలంగాణ సాయుధ పోరాటం) of 1946–51 was a communist-led insurrection of peasants against the princely state of Hyderabad in the r ...

and a veteran politician at

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

. He was elected as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly three times. He represented Ramannapeta constituency from CPI. He was renowned freedom fighter during the Telangana peasants armed struggle at the time of the Nizam regime. Leaders from across the political spectrum remember Reddy as a simple and honest man “one who sent his children to government schools, never bought a car or a house” and a "role-model Communist”. He believed and followed communist ideology and moral philosophy until his last breath. Yadagiri Reddy died on 22 November 2019 at the age of 88, due to cardiac arrest.

Personal life

Gurram Yadagiri Reddy was born in Suddala, Gundala mandal of erstwhile

Nalgonda district Nalgonda district is a district in the Telangana state of India. Nalgonda district has the highest number of mandals in the state with 31 mandals. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Rangareddy, Yadadri and Nagarkurnool districts ...

present day Yadadri bhongir, Telangana State on 15 February 1931 in an agricultural family, Narasamma and Gurram Ram Reddy were his parents. He was fourth son in the family. He grew up in Suddala village which was famous for communist movements. Reddy was married to Yadamma. They had two sons, Rajashekar Reddy, an Advocate and Rammohan Reddy, a journalist and two daughters Bharathamma and Rajamani. Reddy's family was not into politics. At the age of fifteen, he was attracted to communist ideology and fought against the Deshmukhs,

Razakars Razakar (رضا کار) is etymologically an Arabic word which literally means volunteer. The word is also common in Urdu language as a loanword. On the other hand, in Bangladesh, razakar is a pejorative word meaning a traitor or Judas. In Pakista ...

of Nizam. He participated in guerrilla movements in his teen years. He was well known for his peasant movements in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

state.

Political career

Yadagiri Reddy, having got attracted to the communist party ideology during his school days, joined the

. After India attained independence in 1947, the Communist Party of India party led armed struggles against a series of local monarchs that were reluctant to give up their power particularly in

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

, and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Yadagiri Reddy was an active member in rebellion that took place in Telangana, against the Nizam of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. As an active member of

, he led several processions on behalf of farmers from Nalgonda district on foot. In Telangana Armed Rebellion, he worked with

Suddala Hanmanthu Suddala Hanmanthu was a noted Indian poet of the mid 1900s. He wrote songs like ''Palleturi pillagada... pasulagaase monagaada...'' (from the movie Maa Bhoomi). Early life Suddala Hanmanthu was born in Paladugu village, Mothkur mandal. Later, ...

, Dharma Bhiksham,

Mallu Swarajyam Mallu Swarajyam (1931 – 19 March 2022) was an Indian politician from Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Freedom fighter. She was member of an armed ''dalam'' which took part in the Telangana struggle. Her autobiography ''naa maate tupaak ...

and

Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy Comrade Bhimireddy Narasimha Reddy was a freedom fighter and a leader of the Telangana Rebellion. He is considered as the Telangana Che Guevara, given his rebellion against Rajakars. He belonged to Suryapet district of present day Telangana. B. ...

and other strong communist pioneers of those times. He held District and state level positions at

. He worked as secretary of

, Ramannapeta Taluk, and as district president of Raithu Sangam and also as State president of Akhila Bharatha Raithu Sangam of Andhra Pradesh. His victories in the elections are historical. Yadagiri Reddy won Ramannapet Assembly seat thrice, and in consecutive terms, in 1985, 1989 and 1994, twice against the then strong rival Vuppunuthala Purushottam Reddy, a former minister and once against Kommu Papaiah, a former minister from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

References

# ^ "సీపీఐ సీనియర్ నేత యాదగిరిరెడ్డి కన్నుమూత". ''Eenadu'' (in Telugu). 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Election Results in 1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Gurram Yadagiri 1931 births 2019 deaths Communist Party of India politicians from Telangana Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1985–1989 People from Nalgonda district Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1989–1994 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1994–1999