Kondapalli Seetharamaiah (1914—12 April 2002) was a senior communist leader and Maoist organizer in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Early life

Kondapalli Seetharamaiah was born into a rich family in Lingavaram village, Nandivada mandal of

Gudivada revenue division Gudivada revenue division (or Gudivada division) is an administrative division in the Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 3 revenue divisions in the district with 7 mandals under its administration. Gudivada ...

, Krishna District,

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 ...

, and was brought up in the nearby Jonnapadu village. Kondapalli Seetha Ramaiah also lived in Jannaram village, of Mancherial district for almost 20 and more years, he moved here along with one of the close associates Mulupuri Gopal Rao. His mother was murdered when they were living in Jannaram.

Political career

Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, at a young age, joined the communist movements. He went on to become the Krishna District Secretary of the Communist Party of India. His CPI unit was active during the

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 ...

. When the Communist Party of India was divided in 1964, Seetharamaiah withdrew from political life. He began working as a

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

teacher at

St. Gabriel's High School St. Gabriel's High School (abbreviated SGHS) is an educational institution located in Kazipet, in Warangal district of Telangana, India. It was established in 1955 by the late Rev. Bro. Vincent. The school is a Montfortian Institution. Histor ...

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

. In Warangal he befriended K.G. Sathyamurthy. Both men joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Seetharamaiah became a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Committee of CPI(ML). When the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) was torn by internal strife, Seetharamaiah joined the Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) in 1972. In August 1974, the Andhra Pradesh State Committee of COC, CPI(ML) was organised, with Seetharamaiah as one of its three members. On 26 April 1977 Seetharamaiah was arrested in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

, when police caught him with weapons in a vehicle. He was released on bail, but absconded and went underground.Singh, Prakash, ''The Naxalite Movement in India''.

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

: Rupa & Co., 1999, , p. 106. In 1977 he broke away from COC, CPI(ML). On 22 April 1980 he founded the

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War 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. Hi ...

. On 2 January 1982 he was arrested in

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, in the northern part of Southern India ...

Begumpet Railway Station Begumpet railway station (station code:BMT) is a railway station and railway junction in Begumpet, Secunderabad, India. It falls under the common capital area shared between the state of Telangana. Localities like Ameerpet, Greenlands and Somaj ...

, when waiting to board a train to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

. On 4 January 1984 he managed to escape from the prisoners wing of the

Osmania Hospital Osmania General Hospital (OGH) is one of the oldest hospitals in India located at Afzal Gunj, Hyderabad and is named after its founder – Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad. It is run by the Government of Telangana, and is one o ...

. Following an internal dispute, which ended with the expulsion of K.G. Sathyamurthy (number 2 in the party ranks) and Byreddy Sathyanarayana Reddy (militia commander in

Khammam District Khammam district is a district in the eastern region of the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Khammam is the district headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Mahabubabad, Bhadradri districts and with Eluru and NTR dis ...

), Seetharamaiah's hold over the party strengthened. Sathyamurthy had begun questioning

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

character of the party, on the lines of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...

. Reddy had opposed Sathyamurthy's ouster. In 1991, Seetharamaiah was ousted from the party. In 1993, he was caught by police in his home village. After few years in prison, he was acquitted and released on humanitarian grounds.

Final years

During his final years, he abstained from political activities. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Kondapalli Seetharamaiah died in his granddaughter's house in

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

on 12 April 2002. He was 87 years old. He was survived by his wife Koteswaramma and two granddaughters, K. Anuradha and K. Sudha. Funeral services were arranged the next day. According to press reports, only a handful of people turned up.

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seetharamaiah, Kondapalli 1914 births 2002 deaths Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in India People from Krishna district Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Communist Party of India politicians from Andhra Pradesh