Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya
Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya was an Indian independence activist and political leader in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was also the first governor of Madhya Pradesh. His books include Feathers and Stones, The History of Congress, and Gandhi and Gandhism.
Early life and education
Born in Gundugolanu village, Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh to a Telugu Niyogi Brahmin family, Pattabhi graduated from the Madras Christian College, fulfilled his ambition to become a medical practitioner by securing a M.B.C.M. degree.Career
Medical and early political career
He started his practice as a doctor in the coastal town of Machilipatnam, headquarters of Krishna District and the political centre of Andhra. He left his lucrative practice to join the freedom fighting movement. During the years 1912–13, when there was a great controversy over the desirability of forming a separate province for Andhra, he wrote a number of articles in "The Hindu" and other journals explaining the need for immediate formation of linguistic provinces.At the Lucknow session of the Congress in 1916, he demanded the formation of separate Congress circle for Andhra. The demand was opposed by Mahatma Gandhi, but as Tilak supported Pattabhi, the Andhra Congress Committee came into existence in 1918. He was a member of the Working Committee of the Congress for a number of years and the President of Andhra Provincial Congress Committee in 1937–40.
Publications and imprisonment
He ran for the presidency of the Indian National Congress as the candidate closest to Mohandas Gandhi, against Netaji Subash Chandra Bose in Tripuri Session of 1939 . He lost owing to Netaji's rising popularity and the belief that Pattabhi favoured the inclusion of Tamil-majority districts in a future Telugu state in independent India.Serving on the Congress Working Committee when the Quit India Movement was launched in 1942, Pattabhi was arrested with the entire committee and incarcerated for three years without outside contact in the fort in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. During this time he maintained a detailed diary of day-to-day life during imprisonment, which was published later as Feathers and Stones. He is also the author of The History of the Congress published in 1935 with an introductory note given by the Rajendra Prasad. His other popular publication was Gandhi and Gandhism.