Gogineni Ranga Nayukulu (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), also known as N. G. Ranga, was an Indian freedom fighter,

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...

, parliamentarian and farmers' leader. He was the founding president of the

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party, that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly soci ...

, and an exponent of the peasant philosophy.Prof. N. G. Ranga
rajyasabha.nic.in He received the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

award for his contributions to the Peasant Movement. N.G. Ranga served in the Indian Parliament for six decades, from 1930 to 1991.

Early life

Ranga was born in

Nidubrolu Ponnuru is a neighbourhood in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Ponnur municipality of Tenali revenue division. Government and politics Ponnur Municipality is the governmental body. Transport Nidubrolu railway stati ...

village in Guntur district of

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 ...

. He went to school in his native village, and graduated from the

Andhra-Christian College The Andhra Christian College or A.C. College is one of the oldest colleges in India located in Guntur Andhra Pradesh. It started in 1885. AC College is part of the education enterprise of the Protestant churches. It admits intermediate, undergr ...

, Guntur. He received a BLitt degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1926. Upon his return to India, he started teaching as a professor of economics at

Pachaiyappa's College Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in Chennai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In addition, it is the first sole Indian college in Madras Presidency. History Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai is the resul ...

, Madras (

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

). In Oxford, Ranga was influenced by the works of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Sydney Webb,

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

, and John Stuart Mill. Initially attracted to

guild socialism Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influent ...

in Europe, the progress of the USSR would turn him into a Marxist. Later, the Stalinist oppression of peasants and forced collectivization in the 1930s drove Ranga away from the Marxist fold. Ranga met

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

in Madras and was so impressed that he joined the

civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a ...

in 1929. He became part of mainstream politics with his entry in the central assembly in 1930. He opposed the Simon Commission report and participated in the first

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

. Based on methodology of the British Labour Party's political school, he went on to establish similar schools in Andhra to turn peasants into politically conscious citizens. The first Andhra Farmers’ School was opened in 1934 at his native village Nidubrolu.

Freedom movement

Ranga joined the freedom movement inspired by

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

's clarion call in 1930. He led the

ryot Ryot (alternatives: raiyat, rait or ravat) was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were tenants and cultivators, and served as hi ...

agitation in 1933. He wrote a book, ''Bapu Blesses,'' about his discussions with Gandhi. In the course of the

Indian freedom struggle The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

, he led the historic Ryot Agitation of Andhra in 1933. His pro-peasantry advocacy was reflected in his support of the farmers’ agitation against the

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

i oppression at Venkatagiri. He convinced Gandhi to support the movement, despite opposition from other members of Congress. The peasant movement gradually intensified and spread across the rest of India. All of these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the

All India Kisan Sabha All India Kisan Sabha ( AIKS; lit. ''All India Farmers Union'', also known as the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha), is the peasant or farmers' wing of the Communist Party of India, an important peasant movement formed by Sahajanand Saraswati in 1 ...

(AIKS) at the

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

session of 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 E ...

in April 1936, with Sahajanda Saraswati elected as its first president and Ranga as a general secretary. The Kisan Manifesto, which was released in August 1936, demanded the abolition of the zamindari system and the cancellation of rural debts. Ranga continuously organized farmers of the region. Along with his wife, Bharathi Devi, he associated himself with the Satyagraha (1940) and the Quit India Movement (1942), and also played a decisive role in connecting peasants with the national liberation movement. He was elected as a member of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in 1946 and became a member of the Provisional Parliament of India until after the first elections under the new constitution in 1952.

Contributions to literature

Ranga wrote multiple books, one of them being ''Bapu Blesses,'' regarding his discussions with

. Ranga's academic publications were mostly written about the conditions of peasants and laborers in the countryside. Known as Rythu Ranga and Coolie Ranga, he fought against both the colonial and socialist Indian state to ensure dignity for farmers. He wrote other books on diverse subjects like the credo of world peasantry, economic organization of Indian villages, and the Indian adult education movement.

Publications

Ranga published 65 books in English, including: * ''Credo of World Peasants'' * ''Agony and Solace'' - 2 volumes * ''Gandhian Plan'' * ''History of Kisan Movement'' * ''Revolutionary Peasant'' (1954) * ''Colonial and Coloured Peoples' Freedom Front'' (1957) * ''Aerial-eye View of USSR and Yugoslavia'' (1956) - published by Parliament * ''Tribes of Nilgiris, Self-Employment Sector'' (1959) * ''Fight for Freedom'' (Autobiography 1967) * ''Bapu Blesses'' (containing the discussions and talks with Mahatma Gandhi) (1969) * ''Distinguished Acquaintances'' - 2 volumes (1976) * ''Quintessence of Non-alignment Movement'' (1983) * ''India in the U.N. Ranga's participation'' (1983) * ''Protection of the Self-Employed Peasants and Tribes'' (1984) He also published 15 books in Telugu, including: * ''Modern Political Institutions'' - 2 volumes (1933) * ''Harijans Nayak'' (1934) * ''Smrities of Bharati Devi'' (1973)

Political career

In 1951, in a closely contested presidential election of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, Ranga was defeated by

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (; 19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence ...

. Due to ideological differences, Ranga and

Tanguturi Prakasam Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu (23 August 1872 – 20 May 1957) was an Indian jurist, political leader, social reformer, and anti-colonial nationalist who served as the chief minister of the Madras Presidency. Tanguturi subsequently became the fi ...

resigned from Congress and organized the

Hyderabad State Praja Party {{Use Indian English, date=February 2020 Hyderabad State Praja Party, a political party in the Hyderabad State. HSPP was formed in 1951 when Tanguturi Prakasam and Acharya N. G. Ranga broke away from the Indian National Congress. In April 1951 Ra ...

, which was further split into the

Krishikar Lok Party Krishikar Lok Party (Peasants Peoples Party), a political party in the Hyderabad State, India, existing April–June 1951. KLP was formed when Acharya N. G. Ranga broke away from the Hyderabad State Praja Party. KLP contested the 1951 Lok Sab ...

(KLP) for peasants, under the leadership of Ranga as the president. KLP contested the 1951 Lok Sabha elections, winning one seat. KLP also contested the 1952 Madras Legislative Assembly election and won 15 seats. In the

1955 Andhra State Legislative Assembly election Elections to the Andhra State Legislative Assembly were held on 11 February 1955. 581 candidates contested for the 167 constituencies in the Assembly. There were 29 two-member constituencies and 138 single-member constituencies. The members of th ...

, Congress, Praja Party and KLP formed an alliance and KLP won 22 seats. After the election, on the request of Nehru, Ranga merged KLP with the Congress party. He was elected to Congress in the 1957 general election from Tenali Lok Sabha constituency.

Swatantra Party

Ranga's differences with

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

were visible from the beginning. As part of the

Kumarappa The following is a list of commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, a separatist militant Tamil nationalist organisation, which operated in northern and eastern Sri Lanka from the late 1970s to ...

Committee on land reforms, he did not support land ceiling measures. Ranga was also opposed to the whole socialist apparatus of the Five-Year Plans and Planning Commission. He refused to join Nehru's cabinet when offered a ministerial berth. In response to Nehru's advocacy of cooperative farming, Ranga mobilized lakhs of peasants in

Machilipatnam Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar, is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the mandal headquarte ...

to oppose the abolition of property rights by the state. The 1959 Nagpur Resolution of INC was the final straw. The socialists in Congress proposed cooperative farming to emulate Mao's collectivization drive. The threat to property rights in an increasingly socialist India galvanized a disparate set of anti-Congress leaders to come together and form the

. Ranga became the party's first president. As a Swatantrite parliamentarian, Ranga's advocacy of liberty was most visible during the debates over the proposed 17th amendment in 1964. The amendment would empower state governments to acquire land from ordinary farmers without paying for it. Ranga's rousing speech in Parliament against the bill led to its defeat. Ranga's concern for farmers’ welfare was recognized by Nehru, who said, “As long as Rangaji is in Parliament, the Indian peasants could sleep without any worry.” On the question of his opposition to Nehru, Ranga clarified: “It was for the freedom of the peasants and in defense of dharma. I’ve visualized the resulting implications of his anti-farmer policies. Knowing fully well that opposing Pandit Nehru can be politically dangerous to me, I performed my duty in defense of my convictions."

Later years

The dissident parties, the

Congress (O) The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Ministe ...

Jan Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

and the Samyukta Socialist Party, formed an alliance with

called the National Democratic Front and fought against the Indian National Congress led by Indira Gandhi in the 1971 Indian general elections. After facing the massive defeat of his Swatantra party in the elections, Ranga rejoined the

and supported Indira Gandhi, to advance his goal of uplifting peasants. Ranga worked as a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC 1975–85), and Deputy Leader of Congress Parliamentary Party (1980–1991).

Death

Ranga died on June 9, 1995. Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao said that when Ranga died, the country lost an outstanding parliamentarian who was a champion of public causes and rural peasants. The Andhra Pradesh government declared a 3-day state mourning period."Prof Ranga passes away". ''The Hindustan Times''. 9 June 1995.

Honors

* Agricultural University of Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad (now in Telangana) was named in his honor and memory as

Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) is a public agricultural university with its headquarters at the village Lam, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. History The original Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University was est ...

, which later was shifted to Lam, Guntur from August 2014. * Ranga was in the Guinness Book of World Records as a parliamentarian with 50 years of service. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Madras State in 1952 and Andhra Pradesh in 1977. He represented

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...

Chittoor Chittoor is a city and district headquarters in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal and divisional headquarters of Chittoor mandal and Chittoor revenue division, respectively. The city has a popu ...

, Srikakulam and Guntur constituencies in Lok Sabha at various times from 1957 to 1991. * Indian parliamentarians congratulating him on 50 years of his parliamentary career and the 60-year anniversary of his first speech in Central Legislative Assembly on July 11, 1930. * Recipient of Nehru Award for Literacy Campaign, Rajaji Ratna Award and Kushak Ratna Award. * The statue of Ranga at Gate No. 4 of Parliament House was unveiled by the then Vice-president

Krishan Kant Krishan Kant (28 February 1927 – 27 July 2002) was an Indian politician who served as the tenth vice president of India from 1997 until his death 2002. Formerly, he was the governor of Andhra Pradesh from 1990 to 1997. He was a member of Lok ...

on 27 July 1998. The statue was donated by the

government of Andhra Pradesh Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as, GOAP, or, Andhra Government, is the subnational government for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is an elected government with 175 MLAs elected to the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

. * The N. G. Ranga Farmer Award for Diversified Agriculture was instituted by the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

in 2001. *

in 1991 for his contributions to public service. * A commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

was released by the

government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 2001.Indian Postage Stamp of N. G. Ranga
. Indianpost.com. Retrieved on 2018-11-21.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranga, N. G. 1900 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Indian economists India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1989–1991 Alumni of Oxford Brookes University Alumni of the University of Oxford Farmers' rights activists Gandhians Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Members of the Constituent Assembly of India People from Guntur district Pro tem Speakers of the Lok Sabha Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs Scientists from Andhra Pradesh Swatantra Party politicians Telugu politicians