Achievements of Potti Sreeramulu

Potti Sreeeamulu was an Indian revolutionary. He went on a fast unto death, demanding the creation of a separate Andhra Pradesh state from Madras State, due to which he eventually died on the 56th day of his fast. His untimely demise proved to be a key reason for the decision to create states based on language in India. He was a strong devotee of Mahatma Gandhi. Throughout his life, he campaigned for truth, non-violence, patriotism, and upliftment of Harijans.

About Potti Sreeramulu:

Potti Sreeramulu was an Indian freedom fighter. On March 16, 1901, Potti Sreeramulu was born. Sreeramulu is known in the Andhra region as Amarajeevi (“Immortal Being”) for his generosity to the Andhra cause. He rose to prominence after going on a 56-day hunger strike to demand a separate state for Andhra Pradesh. His killing provoked national indignation, and three days later, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared that the newly independent country would constitute an Andhra State. He dedicated his life to establishing a Telugu-speaking state independent from the Tamil-speaking Tamil Nadu administration of the time. His battles prompted the formation of “Andhra Pradesh,” a Telugu-speaking state.

Dalit empowerment and the Freedom Movement

Sreeramulu was a member of the Indian Independence Movement and was imprisoned for participating in the 1930 Salt Satyagraha. 

Between 1941 and 1942, he was imprisoned three times for participating in the Satyagraha and the Quit India campaign. 

He worked on town revitalization projects in Rajkot, Gujarat, Komaravolu, Krishna, and Andhra Pradesh. Sreeramulu joined the Gandhi ashram founded by Yerneni Subrahmanyam at Komaravolu. “If by some stroke of fortune I had eleven extra followers like Sreeramulu, I shall obtain liberation from British tyranny in a year,” Mahatma Gandhi famously said of Sreeramulu’s devotion and fasting capacity.

He was responsible for the unavoidable receipt of charkha material turning in the Nellore area. He was known for accepting food from all families, regardless of position or ideology. From 1946 to 1948, he embraced three diets on the side of Dalit privileges to enter hallowed locations, such as the Nellore sanctuaries. He went on a hunger strike in support of the Venu Gopala Swamy Temple in Moolapeta, Nellore, which won Dalit access rights. He fasted again in order to obtain favourable Madras government orders that would benefit the Dalit community. He fasted once again in order to secure favourable directives from the Madras government to empower the Dalit community further.

This was the first major move to consolidate the Dalits. Potti Sreeramulu, a Dalit himself, fasted for more than 50 days demanding a separate state of Andhra Pradesh. He sacrificed his life in this struggle, and he is still remembered as one of the greatest heroes for the cause of Telangana.

The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS played an important role in this movement, and it was from here that they began to influence other state parties like BJS (Bharatiya Jana Sangh) and CPIM (Communist Party of India), which later became Congress (I). The Hindu Mahasabha also started organising various camps for SCs/STs at different places where they would be educated about their rights under Articles 15(4), 19(1) & 21(A).

Statehood for Andhra

He attempted to compel the public authority to pay attention to public requests for the detachment of the Andhra region from the Madras Presidency based on etymological lines and with Madras as its capital to protect the welfare of the Telugu government in the Madras Presidency and the lives of the Andhra people. He went on a protracted fast, which he ended after Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru committed to helping create Andhra Pradesh.

Following then, little progress was made, owing largely to the Telugu nation’s focus on retaining Madras, the future capital.  That decision was overturned by the JVP (Jawahar, Vallabhbhai, Pattabhi) council, chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Sreeramulu continued the hunger strike on October 19, 1952, in Maharshi Bulusu Sambamurti’s Madras mansion, despite supporters who argued that the preservation of Madras was a useless cause.

Despite strikes and protests by the Andhra people, the public authority offered no sensible comment regarding the new state’s arrangement, and Sreeramulu died on the evening of December 15, 1952. Only one person in modern Indian history, Jatin Das, truly refrained till death; all others surrendered or were arrested and coercively fed or hospitalised.

The house where Potti Sreeramulu died is located at 126 Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Chennai; it has been designated as a significant landmark by the Andhra State administration.

Conclusion

We learned about Potti Sreeramulu in this article. Sriramulu was born on March 16, 1901, in Madras (Chennai), where his family had relocated from their home Guntur area. He faced various challenges throughout the independence fight and the upliftment of Dalits. He was always present, being a wonderful Indian citizen. “India would have attained independence long ago if it had a few stalwarts like him,” Mahatma Gandhi famously observed of Potti Sriramulu, the famed freedom fighter who laid the groundwork for Andhra Pradesh. His death resulted in the reorganisation of the state. After his death, the public was given the right to shape the state based on etymological principles; many more states were semantically removed.