The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : He took up arms for peasants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 06, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

He took up arms for peasants

By Our Staff Reporter

NALGONDA, DEC. 5. Mallu Venkata Narsimha Reddy -- fondly called

V. N. by the Communists -- played a pivotal role in the Telangana peasants' armed struggle from 1946 to 1951. He was instrumental in collecting arms, training youngsters and chalking out strategies to outsmart Nizam's army. His political acumen in policy making in the armed struggle and in the Communist movement stood out.

Though he was born into a semi landlord's family in 1932 at Mamindla Mandava in Nootanakal mandal in Nalgonda district, his areas of operation during the armed struggle were Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Manchiryal and Asifabad.

Fighting Nizam

Enraged by the brutal murder of Doddi Komaraiah, the first martyr of the peasants' struggle in 1946, V.N. mobilised youngsters at Mondrai to launch a fight against Nizam. After the peasants' movement turned into an armed struggle on September 13, 1947, he was involved in many a clandestine operations of Gudur dalam in Warangal district. He was the secretary of a committee that was entrusted with the task of expanding the struggle to all parts of Telangana.

Nabbed by Army

V.N. was nabbed by the Indian Army in 1952 in Adilabad following a tip-off given by a farmer and was jailed at Bellampalli for about six months. He married Mallu Swarajyam, a woman leader of the armed struggle, in 1953-54 in the presence of Uppla Malsoor, the then Suryapet MLA at his quarters in Hyderabad.

He served the party as Nalgonda district committee secretary from 1969 to 1977 and 1985 and 1997 and led the State Rythu Sangham in 1978-79. Later he was made a member of the Central committee in 1985 till he breathed his last. He visited Russia and China as a member of the CPI (M) delegations.

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