Walking With Destiny- Nadendla Bhaskar Rao

Walking with Destiny

ByNadendla Bhaskar Rao

Walking with DestinyNadendla Bhaskar Rao

Second Edition

June, 2011

© Author

Price : Rs. 200/-

Publisher :Sarvadharma Nilayam, 245,Jublee Hills, Road No.18Hyderabad - 500 033Phone : 040-23608885Cell : 9704608885

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CONTENTS

1. WALKING WITH DESTINY 1-21

2. COLLEGE DAYS AND POLITICS 22-34

3. EARLY PHASE AS LAWYER 35-39

4. THE YOUTH CONGRESS DAYS 40-49

5. THE INDIRA CONGRESS SURGE 1978 50-66

6. BIRTH OF THE REGIONAL PARTY 67-88

7. TELUGU DESAM LANDSLIDE 89-99

8. REGIONAL PARTY IN THE SADDLE 100-120

9. STYLE OF FUNCTIONING -WHIMSICAL DECISIONS 121-134

10. THE DOWNWARD SWING 135-185

11. TAKING OVER AS CHIEF MINISTER 1984 186-201

12. SETTING THE HOUSE IN ORDER 202-215

13. AUGUST 1984 AND THE AFTERMATH 216-226

14. THE CONGRESS HOME-COMING 227-250


Why this book………..

I come from a respectable family ofagriculturists from Guntur district. I enjoyed aflourishing legal practice in Hyderabad. The spiritof service to fellow-beings is deeply ingrained inme. It is this noble trait that has impelled me togive up the lucrative practice and join the Congresswith its hoary traditions and glorious history.

I distanced myself from the party after I hadnoticed the distressing trend of individualsgrowing at the expense of the organisation andbecoming too big for it, leading to its gradualeclipse. Personal agenda subordinated collectiveparty interests. Recognising the need for a regionalparty against this depressing scenario, I sowed theseed for the birth of the Telugu Desam andnurtured it. History repeated here too. Heroworship, sycophancy, arrogance, ignorance andother undesirable tendencies became the bane ofthe new party.

As a self-respecting man, I could not fit in thestifling confines of the Telugu Desam and returnedto the relatively freer atmosphere of the Congressparty. I held many positions in the party -of an

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2 Walking with Destiny

ordinary worker, general secretary, MLA, MP,Minister and finally, of the Chief Minister. I hadnever compromised on principles and values orwavered from the right path. Nor had I mortgagedthe party or Government interests to favouranyone. I believed, in thought, word and deed, thatpeople, the party and the Government were abovethe individual.

However, people with perverse mindset dostrange things. They betray you for their own ends,level allegations, launch vicious campaign andmake the righteous man a sacrificial animal. Allthese happened to me in much the same manner.I had silently suffered many wrongs. Many hardtruths, too shocking for people to understand, letalone digest, lay hidden in the depths of my heart.A lifetime might not suffice to bring to light thehorrible facts. I thought I should attempt to blowthe lid off at least some of them to rebut attemptsto distort history. Hence, this modest effort.

In times of pain and anguish, books provideone the much-needed balm. How true wasMahakavi Dasaradhi. In those difficult times, Iconfined myself to the library where the booksbecame my life-breath.

My childhood and early memories

I was born on June 23, 1935 in the Kuglerhospital in Guntur to Pitchaiah and Venkayamma.There is an interesting story surrounding my




name. My sister, Anasurya, was informed of thehappy tidings at the sun-rise, though I was bornthe previous evening. Therefore, it seems, shenamed me Bhaskara Rao after the Sun-God.

Donepudi , along the banks of the Krishna, inKollur mandal of Guntur district is my nativevillage, seat of my childhood and early education.It was once known as Dronapuri. It boasted of richand fertile soils yielding abundant harvest. I wasproud that my Donepudi basked in prosperity andaffluence. For their part, the people led a dharmiclife, setting many example to others. Those days,Malayalaswamy of Yerpedu ashram, who didpenance in the caves of Tirumala, visited ourvillage as part of his mission to propagate spiritualvalues among the masses. The God-man fromKerala had set up 'Omkarashram' on the banks ofthe river abutting our village. His philosophy andteachings had a strong and lasting influence onmy impressionable mind.

Those were days of the White Man's rule. Ourvillage of about 5,000, hardly had transport orcommunication facilities. We lived in our smallworld and regarded our school as the fountain ofultimate knowledge and wisdom. Old timers usedto say a bag of paddy cost Rs two, but I rememberit as Rs 6 per bag. I also recollect Acharya N.G.Ranga holding a meeting in our village underpetromax lamps and exhorting the farmers toagitate for Rs 10 a bag.



Portrait of village life

We had age-old Ramalayam and Sivalayam.My father, an ardent Rama bhakta, would take usto these temples on festive occasions. A handful ofrich farmers owned hundreds of acres and lived inbig bungalows. As was the fashion those days, theprosperous farmers used to hire caparisonedelephants, horses and camels belonging to the Rajaof Challapalli for marriage procession. It was athrilling experience. The shrewd Raja, who ownedlarge tracts of land in the vicinity, sold them off,sensing which way the social winds were blowing.People rarely ventured out of the village, be it forstudies or marital alliances.

The Potharaju temple in the centre of thevillage had always fascinated me. People used toperform abhishekam to him with 101 vesselspraying for relief from the oppressive heat ofRohini karte marking peak summer. Lo andbehold. Rain would follow soon. My young mindcould not fathom the mystery.

Facilities like electricity, telephone, radio etcwere post-independence developments that thepeople of those days did not know or imagine. Arich landlord had a radio set powered by a 10-kgbattery. He would allow us in to listen to the news,if he were in good mood. The nearest railwaystation, Bhattiprolu, was three miles away and oneneeded to walk all the way, whether one headedfor Kollur or Vellatur.



Eco-conscious folk

Our village got high school, largely due to theefforts of Pamulapati Venkata KrishnaiahChowdary, chairman of the district board. He cameto our village with an offer to sanction it if weparted with five acres situated in the chinthalatopu (tamarind trove). An elderly man in the crowdrose and wanted to know the fate of the large flocksof birds if the trees were hacked. 'No. Thanks', hetold him bluntly. As a young boy, I was a witnessto this. Looking back, I marvel at the eco-consciousness of the people of those days.

Kollur and Vellatur were witness to religiousand spiritual activities due to the sizeable presenceof Brahmins. In contrast, agriculture-dependentKammas and the weaker sections constituted thebulk of Donepudi population. Each lived inisolation of the other with a sharp dividing line.One could not even draw water from the wellbelonging to the other group. My happy childhoodwas spent amid lush fields, canal bunds and thebanks of the Krishna where I played and frolicked.I watched in child-like fascination at the school ofcranes and other avians that flew overhead in eye-catching formation. The wonderful spectacleremains eternally enshrined in my mind's eye. Itis a pity that the present-day children should goto the zoo to watch the very birds that routinelyflew over our skies. I am also amused at theinnocence of today's grandchildren who want to


see the rice tree! At the same, a nameless painalso bothers me.

The coming of the new agricultural seasonalways filled me with great joy. It meanteverything new - farm workers, farm implementsand tools. I cherished those moments. Transportfacilities hardly existed. For us kids, the occasionalsight of a lorry with a coal-fired boiler in our villagewas something we never missed. The poor cleanerwould turn the handle relentlessly as if hisintestines would burst before the engine revvedup and roared. How we wished to start the lorryand drive.

The karanam, munasabu and other villagefunctionaries used to live in our closeneighbourhood, drawing a salary of five to tenrupees a month. It may sound ridiculous, but istrue. Yet they led a respectable existence with themodest remuneration.

Discipline and tradition

My father, a taskmaster, would wake us up atdawn and teach mathematics, in which I was nevertoo comfortable. I always wondered why did Godcreate mathematics! In contrast he couldeffortlessly reel off multiplication tables in seconds.It amazed me how he and the people of his timesperfected them. How did father mastermathematics? Here is an interesting story. He hada long tuft on the head which his teacher tied to



the ceiling with a string. Whenever he bowed todoze off, the string would tug him back, renderingsleep impossible. That was how they studied undera naked wick lamp and got by rote the complexmultiplications.

As with mathematics, so with the epics likethe Ramayana and the Mahabharatha. My fatherwould recite any number of slokas and poems fromthem, to our great surprise and wonder. I feelashamed that I could not inherit a fraction of histalents.

There was a time-lag between sowing and de-weeding operations when farmers and labour hadlittle work. They used to while away the free timewith song and gossip or resolve petty disputes in arelaxed atmosphere. They would busy themselvesentwining jute fibre to make ropes for the cots orto draw water from the well. Our village did nothave a hospital or a veterinary dispensary. Theconventional mode to treat a minor injury was towash it with urine! So much for our backwardnessand ignorance. These people were yet happy andwithout a care, probably because they lived in closecommunion with nature.

I still remember my school days and teachers,Subrahmanyam, Kantha Rao and the Teluguteacher from Repalle whose name I cannot recall.We nick-named him ' Dumuvulu mastaru'. He isno more, but the pleasant memories linger. I am



eternally grateful to him and other teachers. I stillremember their lessons. My father used tocultivate endowment lands along with our own andbought small pieces of additional land with thesavings. My father liked to eat only hand-poundedrice, as did most people those days.

My God-fearing parents, father in particular,used to be pre-occupied with puja and rituals. Wehad to sell away our house as well as lands afterfather's business in foodgrains and turmeric inpartnership with Munagala Lakshmaiah led tohuge losses. We bought a smaller mud house onthe main road where we continued to live. Likemost women of the farming community, motherused to be busy all day paving the floor with cowdung paste or milking the cow, making butter,feeding the cattle and doing a host of other things.Fortunately, present-day women are spared thisordeal because hassle-free cooking range and othergadgets are available right at their doorstep.Ramaiah, the village quack, used to effectivelytreat us for any ailment by just feeling the pulseand making the right medicine then and there.

We used to partake in minor post-harvestactivities for fun. I wonder if a poet can match theunderlying mood, the melody and the emotion inthe songs of the simple rural folk. While in thefields, we used to watch cranes flying in a unique'V' formation. Their number used to be invariably13. Strange!



Our family

I am the youngest of four siblings. Anasurya,the first born, was married to PamidimukkalaBalakotaiah of Vellatur, a farmer who managed arice mill too. My eldest brother Janardhana Raoworked in Revenue department in Telangana whileSri Ramamurthy, next to him, helped my fatherin agriculture. Those were the days when bigfarmers looked down upon small farmers and theirchildren. It anguished our tender minds. Peoplewere judged by the extent of the land owned andthe income earned. Things have not changed muchsince. We got out of such an unfortunate plightwith great difficulty.

I and my childhood pals, Rama Rao, Subba Raoand Chittemma, would go to the private teacher,carrying a lantern. Even as we grew up, our schoolwas upgraded into high school. One day, my elderbrother Janardhan Rao brought home agramophone. People of our and nearby villages hadnever heard of it. They would make a beeline toour house to listen to the wonder-machine whilemy father proudly declared 'my elder fellowbrought it'.

I was crazy about pets - dogs and pigeons, andlonged to have them. Faced with a firm 'no' fromparents, I stole three rupees to fulfill my wish. Iput the pigeons in a tin box, but the cat made anice meal of all of them. I was found guilty on three



counts - stealing money, smuggling in the birdsand exposing them to the cat, and thrashedroundly.

Andhra Kesari Tanguturi Prakasam Panthuluwas given a rousing reception on his visit to ourvillage. 'My God. What a felicitation', I wonderedas a child. Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan wasalso welcomed in the same manner. He madeenquiries about our living conditions and soughtdetails about farming. NG Ranga and BharatiRanga , regular visitors, won our hearts byidentifying themselves with our problems. Theyhad a lasting impression on my tender mind.

Seeing the Mahatma

My father was an ardent Congress partyfollower who once went all the way to Madras tolisten to Gandhi at the Marina beach. Memory isstill green of how he had carried me on hisshoulders for a darshan of Gandhi at Tenalirailway station. Gandhi came to Tenali thrice, eachtime my father journeyed 20 miles to attend hismeetings. People glorified the sacrifices of thefreedom-fighters. Kolla Tayaramma, a pregnantwoman of Tenali, shouted patriotic slogans,courted arrest and gave birth to the child in theprison. Gandhi, who heard of this, called on thebold lady at her house. History reveals that morewomen from Tenali had participated in thenationalist movement than from any other part ofthe country. Gandhi toured Tenali area to



compliment the brave women. The youth too werebaptized into the movement with vigour.

Veeramachaneni Satyanarayana and TirumalaRao, our relatives, used to work in Guntur on asalary of, it may amuse you, just Rs 20. They usedto commute by train. Some people were of no non-sense type. Believe it or not, the litigants wouldgo right up to the Privy Council even on a farcicalissue like the neighbour diverting rainwater intothe complainant's house! Sometimes I feel thattoday's educated urban, in contrast, reconcile,rather than react to any situation.

I learn that we Nadellas had migrated fromChallapalli in Krishna district to Donepudi on theother side of the river. I always felt that thesurname 'Nadella' did not sound well and thatsomething was a miss. I made it 'Nadendla', theplace in Krishna district from where we might haveoriginated. Little did I or our people dream thatthis very name would one day create a sensationall over the country! While at Bandar, I had nodifficulty dining with the Brahmins, since they toohad this surname.

My father was a devout God-fearing man whoadhered to certain principles and seldom harmedanyone, even under provocation. Here is a storyabout his tolerance and magnanimity. An arrogantfarmer had egged on his well-fed bulls for a fightwith father's frail animal. Father was shaken whenthe badly injured animal limped home and died at



his feet. Instead of confronting the powerfullandlord or turning over the carcass to the butcher,he gave it an honourable funeral. The landlordcontinued, unprovoked, his atrocities, driving hiscattle into others' fields or removing jingle bellsfrom their bulls. Soon, the farmer and the familybecame paupers in the same place where they heldbrutal sway. My father never uttered a wordagainst them, secure in the knowledge that theLord Supreme was the ultimate judge and thatpride goes before fall. I, for one, did not knowwhether it was divine retribution or evil begettingevil.

The Power of Truth

At another time, I was stiff-scared to find adeadly cobra swaying its hood right behind myfather in the fields. Even as he assured me therewas nothing to fear, the snake slithered awaycausing no harm. It was a mystery - a mystery Icould not unravel. We also had a ferocious studbull which would not allow the farm labour or mybrothers to come anywhere near, but would meeklybow and go away on seeing father. My young mindcould never understand the phenomenon, but atthis stage I can only attribute it to the power ofTruth, personified by the God.

My father used to borrow money to meet familyexigencies, for which a note was neither offerednor asked. He would repay it on time even if the



heavens fell. Such was his reputation for honesty.Today's promissory notes are a direct fall-out ofthe decline in moral and ethical values in thesociety. Funny stories used to do the rounds in theHigh Court. It seems that litigants would takefingerprints of their victims while they were asleepunder a tree shade and go to the court seekingjustice! Once bitten, twice shy. So goes the adage.When the extra careful victims slept with theirhands wrapped in cloth, the smarter litigantswould take toe-prints! These stories could best befragments of imagination, but all the samereflected the unhealthy trends like selfishness,greed and corruption, creeping into the society.When evil enters the mind, the man falls deeperand deeper into the abyss. This is the eternal truth.

On August 15, 1947, we kids joyfully wentround the village on bullock carts festooned withflags and buntings, although we hardly knew whatindependence meant. The village atmosphere wasvibrant with the youth engaged in cart race, cock-fights etc on the one hand and in playingbadminton, kabaddi etc on the other. Gales andstorms were common to our river-side villagebecause of its proximity to the sea. They oftenplayed havoc with the cattle-sheds. It was heart-rending to see dumb animals perish in the storm.We used to relax with a book leaving the ploughand milch animals to graze in the fields. Thesehappy images always linger in my mind. Who doesnot treasure childhood memories?



Marriage celebrations

Those times were different. Weddingprocessions for the bride and the groom featuredpalanquins and menas instead of cars. It wasindeed a sight to see the bride taken round onpalanquin while the sturdy bearers chanted 'ohomohom' to ease the burden of weight. Men andwomen would flock to the see the newly-weds inthe grand procession and talk about it for days.Marriages used to last full five days with a lot offanfare and pomp unlike today's hurry burryaffairs. Rich breakfast, sumptuous lunch anddinner were served. The middle class weddingwould be a three-day affair. The poor would satisfythemselves with a simple ceremony. Some peopleindulged in lavish spending on marriage for thesake of false prestige and ruined their lives.

A relative had finalised marriage alliance inneighbouring Krishna district. Our peopleentertained, for some reason, reservations aboutalliances with that district. We from the groom'sparty attended the marriage celebrated in greatstyle. Guests were served table meals with pureghee and mango juice, unheard of 60 years ago.These people, we wondered, should be fabulouslyrich and speculated about the hefty dowry in theoffing. The highly expected windfall for ourbridegroom was a mere seven acres of not so primeland.



Sankranti. The very mention of this festival ofharvest conjures up colourful images of Rangolipatterns (mutyala muggulu) in front of thecourtyard, passing visits by the Haridasu singingthe praise of Sri Hari, ornately decoratedGangireddulu (oxen) and the eagerly-awaitedBudabukkalavadu. We children used to enjoy everybit of what was typically Telugu culture. Dressedin the manner of Sage Narada, the Haridasu wentround the village singing keertans in praise of theLord and accepted humble offerings from thepeople. Budabukkalavadu sported budabukkalu(damarookam) which adorns Lord Siva. He usedthe percussion instrument for an interludebetween his pronouncements for the future.

We also had those days pellilla perayyalu, ourown version of match-makers, who tracked eligibleyoung men and women in the area, gathereddetails and helped in finding suitable match forthem. Washermen and barbers used to be paid inkind.

As a child, I enjoyed watching 'gudise padavaIu'( house boat) plying in the canal. During the Raj,the Englishmen used to come with families toinspect the canal bunds. These bunds would oftenbreach during the flood season. Large reservoirslike Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Alamatti didnot exist then to impound water. People wouldwatch in awe and fear as the swollen Krishna



breached canal bunds and caused extensivedamage to life and property. The British officialswould live in the house boats and initiate actionto plug the breaches. All they expected from thepeople was a chicken for their meal. You may liketo call it bribery or just a gesture by people.

Visit by a policeman was a rarity. There washardly any need for him since no offences werereported. But when a constable did appear, thevillage elders would get up to greet him. The elderswould bow respectfully and greet top officials likethe collector with folded hands.

The Real Public Servant

Varma, a selfless and transparently honestman, took the pains to go to Tenali and lobby withthe engineers for a bridge across the Krishna canalat Donepudi. Before the bridge came, people usedto swim across at great risk. Varma had earned apermanent place in their hearts. School teachersordered us to wash milch animals or do minor farmwork for them. Parents did not mind this becausethe poor teachers earned a meagre Rs 10 to Rs 30a month. It sounds funny that these people areassociated with the adage - 'if you cannot earn aliving, take up teaching'.

We kids feasted on a variety of seasonal fruitand enjoyed playing in the lap of nature. Vegetablecultivation was unknown in the villages. Snakegourd, bottle gourd and ridge gourd were raised



near hay stacks. Pappu or Dhal, chutney and gheeformed the menu when vegetables were notavailable. Pappu and Dappalam, another delicacy,were a must in marriage feast. One reason maybewhy girls of marriageable age, are often asked'when are you treating us to pappu and dappalam?Non-vegetarian food was a rarity. Chicken or meatwas served on special occasions like the visit ofthe son-in-law.

My father was not just an upright and honestman, but adhered to customs and traditionsinherited from his elders. Temples were open tothe Dalits, although a few may have hadreservations. The Dalits used to hold him and otherelders in esteem. On seeing my father, a Dalitwould respectfully hide the toddy pot behind hisback. Come festival time, mother would preparefinest delicacies like garelu, boorelu, ariselu andlovingly watch us hog them eagerly. How can Iforget those sweet memories.

My village boasted of a number of temples. Infact, those days no village was without at leastone temple. Temple culture was much in evidencein the coastal areas of Andhra and Tamil Nadu.Rich farmers owned mango and sapota orchardswhile children of middle class farmers were contentwith relishing thaati munjalu and thegalu, bothproducts of palm tree. We also enjoyed eatinggroundnut mixed with jaggery brought by Vysyatraders.



Our teachers organised many fancyprogrammes, including 'Mock Parliament' sessionwith me as the Speaker. I was already class andschool leader. Seeds of leadership were thus sownin my boyhood itself. I sported black badge andorganised class and even examination boycott in1952 when Potti Sriramulu made the supremesacrifice for separate statehood for the Telugus. Iwas fired with patriotic fervor.

My elder brother had settled down inVisakhapatnam while the other is still inDonepudi, doing agriculture. Their children arewell settled. Sister Anasurya, now 87, lives inVellatur with children and grand-children. I knowlittle about her marriage. Of course, I rememberwell the marriages of my brothers.

Taking to the Water

We learnt swimming in the Krishna canalholding on to the tails of buffaloes. I was once sweptaway by the swirling water, but someone had savedme by pulling me up by my waistband. I enjoyeddiving into the canal from the bridge. Our schoolwas in due course upgraded but we wroteexaminations in Kolluru. I stayed with relativesin Kolluru for my SSC examination.

My father was not just an ideal farmer but onedeeply involved in spiritual pursuits. He wasthorough with the epics the Ramayana, theMahabharatha and the Bhagavatham and



interpreted them to suit the needs of people whocame to him for direction and guidance. He broughtus up on the path of dharma and piety, by exampleand precept. Faith, devotion and concentrationwere indispensable for acquisition of knowledgeand intellectual advancement, he would often say.He was thus my Teacher. His values and life-stylewere my inspiration. In short, he was a completeman. I was too young then to know his greatness,but later years unfolded to me his extraordinarypersonality and the distinctive qualities. A braveheart, he faced many challenges but did notcompromise on truth. A good Samaritan, he wouldunhesitatingly render help to the needy. That washis culture and upbringing. On the other hand,my mother used her time and energies in runningthe house, taking care of the family, the childrenand their interests.

As a boy, I was guilty of a mistake.Poornachandra Rao, a blind boy, was myclassmate. He was brilliant in studies. In childhoodignorance, I would call him 'guddoda' (blind man).I realised that the God was not sympathetic enoughto the boy. Instead of sympathising with hishandicap, I ridiculed. Those memories still hauntme as I realise how much my words had hurt him.

Human relations have undergone radicaltransformation over the decades, creating chasmbetween man and man. Having come from anordinary family which believed agriculture to be



the noblest occupation, I got an opportunity toserve as Agriculture Minister. How come? It isnothing but the will and benevolence of the Divine.The God had ordained thus.

Whatever the positive impact of the industrialrevolution in Europe on the mankind, we can stilldraw comfort from the systems developed anddevices invented by our forefathers. Let us take,for instance, the grinding stone or the use of cowdung cake as fuel , all part of every day rural life.They stand testimony to their intellect andinventive genius.

Early Influence of Politics

Politics cast a bearing on my life even duringthe student days. I was greatly influenced by the1952 agitation for separate statehood for theTelugus. I had believed that a separate state wasa must for the progress and development ofAndhras. I was not politically well-informed orknowledgeable, but what I read in papers or heardfrom the elders made me plunge headlong into the1952 movement spearheaded by Potti Sriramulu,ignoring my father's warnings. Did I notenthusiastically participate in the independencecelebrations years ago?

It was while transporting paddy to the rice millat Bhattiprolu that I heard the shocking news ofthe assassination of Gandhi by Nathuram Godseon January 30, 1948. I was crest-fallen. In 1951,



when I was studying in Donepudi , the Statepolitics were riven by two groups of Congressmen,one led by NG Ranga and the other, by NeelamSanjiva Reddy. Vijayawada was the hub of politicalactivity.

Here I may mention about what really was amajor problem those days, but may soundinsignificant to you now. One had to cross theKrishna river in boats and ferries to reachVijayawada at great hardship and inconvenience.The dam built by Sir Arthur Cotton was inexistence, but was not designed to allow vehicularmovement. Boats and punts were the only means.This problem was overcome with the constructionof the Prakasam Barrage which facilitated bothvehicular and pedestrian traffic. Those were thedays when elections in Vijayawada attracted State-wide attention. The Congress suffered a verticalsplit as Ranga was defeated and left the partyalong with Prakasam.

The events of my childhood shaped my laterlife and the seed for a career in politics was sownat that tender age. This is the first chapter of myearly life - one that may determine the course ofmy future.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



College days and politics

Bandar or Machilipatnam was the cradle of thenationalist movement and the fount of culture. Itproduced many freedom fighters and men ofletters. One of them was Bhogaraju PattabhiSitaramiah, a tall figure in the Congress party.He had chronicled the history of the Congress partyand thereby endeared himself to the people andthe party. The credit of founding Andhra Bankwent to Pattabhi Sitaramaiah and his associates.Another legend who strode Bandar like a colossuswas Mutnuri Krishna Rao, Editor of KrishnaPatrika, whose writings inspired politicians,intellectuals, litterateurs and the common peoplealike.

After I passed what was then called 'schoolfinals' in 1953, my father wanted that I shouldmove to Machilipatnam for higher studies. Whodoes not aspire to study in a place so steeped inhistory. I joined the prestigious National College.

Our principal was Varadachari, an eminentSanskrit scholar. It was said President RajendraPrasad was so impressed by his erudition at theWorld Sanskrit Conference in Tirupati that heperformed 'pada seva' (washing the feet) toVaradachari. Sivakamaiah, our vice-principal,

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taught English and kavi padusha PuvvadaSeshagiri Rao, Telugu. Nori RadhakrishnaMurthy, our economics lecturer, later joined theIndian Police Service.

Bandar, a port town, remained districtheadquarters even after independence. The Nizamceded Bandar to the British. The Nizam used totrade with other countries through this port theyused to call 'Bandar gaah'. It was because of thisconnection that Khasim Razvi, the Razakar leader,boasted to the Nizam and his followers that hissword brooked no challenge and that he wouldwash it only in Bandar port. The town acquiredthe name, Machilipatnam, because of abundanceof fish ('machili' in Urdu). The British shortenedit to Masula which also was in currency tillrecently. Machilipatnam, tucked away in a corner,lagged behind the railway junction town ofVijayawada which witnessed rapid growth anddevelopment. During the Raj, the white rulerscamped in Bandar. There was another college inthe town, but my father, patriotic to the core,preferred the National College started by thenationalist leaders. Logically, I should havestudied in my native Guntur district, but did notbecause the town was plagued by water scarcityand diseases.

While in Bandar I lived in Godugupeta andmade friends with Ramanaiah Naidu, legislator.He was affectionate to me. We boys used to eat inRami Reddy- Ammamma mess, paying Rs three a



month. Every week, by turns, we would contributerice, pulses, salt etc to the pool. They used to callit a 'mess' in those days itself. I would cross theKrishna, take a bus to Bandar via Challapalli. Iwould stop by at Challapalli to fulfil my fancy -peeping at the Rajah's high pedigree dogs, rabbitsand deer through a hole in the palace gate. Havingstudied all along in Telugu, I became nervous inthe college where the medium was English. I evenconsidered returning home, but at the instance ofsome friends, went to one SSR Murthy, aprominent English teacher, to learn grammar.

Madras State elections

Bandar was also said to be notorious for rowdyelements. We saw a photo at a studio and wonderedif the man in the picture did not look like a rowdy.Getting wind of this, some musclemen rushed toour college to thrash us. There were two groups inour college, one sympathising with the Congressand the other with the communists. There wouldoften be clashes and arrests. We sought the helpof one rowdy nicknamed 'Sunnam' because of hisability to reduce his victims to 'sunnam' (limestonepowder). Thus, we did dabble in politics in ourcollege and ignored sports.

I was still in Bandar when U. N. Dhebar waselected president of the All India CongressCommittee at Avadi session near Madras. Itreasure the memories of listening to Dhebar'sspeech and meeting him during an election



campaign in Bandar. The communist partylaunched a high-profile campaign thatPutchalapalli Sundarayya would form theGovernment with Tarimela Nagi Reddy as theFinance Minister and Chandra Rajeswara Rao asthe Home Minister. Their meetings were well-attended. G. Varalakshmi, leading actress of theday, campaigned for the communists.

The Congress took the elections in thecomposite Madras State elections as a prestigematter. Top leader S. K. Patil came from Bombaywith full paraphernalia to campaign for the party.The elections threw up a hung Assembly withdifferent parties and disparate groups.Jawaharalal Nehru stepped in to clear the messby proposing C. Rajagopalachari's name for thechief ministership. He was not a member of eitherHouse. The Governor, Sri Prakasa, laternominated Rajagopalachari to the Upper Houseto legitimise his appointment as the chief minister.Fearing injustice in a composite State, the Telugu-speaking people claimed a part of Madras citywhere their population was dominant. A committeewas formed to go into the issue, but its verdict wentagainst the Telugus.

Bowing to the growing demand, theGovernment of India agreed in principle forcreation of linguistic states. Rayalaseema andCircars reached an agreement under 'Sribaghpact'. People thought it was all the handiwork ofRajaji. Under this pact, the new state would have



the capital in one place and the high court inanother. The Fazl Ali Commission, formed for thepurpose of the new state, favoured Vijayawada asthe Capital city, but the Congress leaders wereapprehensive that the communists, who had asizeable presence in the area, would gain upperhand. They brought pressure on the party highcommand not to locate the Capital there. NGRanga suggested Tirupati for the Capital whileTenneti Viswanatham and Gouthu Latchannaplumped for Visakhapatnam. On Neelam SanjivaReddy's advice, Prakasam settled for Kurnool.People maintain even now that had Vijayawadabeen made the Capital in view of its centrallocation, it would have progressed by leaps andbounds.

Kavi Samrat abused

Viswanadha Satyanarayana, a towering figurein Telugu literature, was then teaching in SSR &CVR College of Vijayawada. He gained fame asthe author of the voluminous 'Veyi Padagalu'. Ourcollege arranged a function to honour him. A groupof irate students accosted him at the entrance,abused him in filthy language and threw stones.'Veyi Padagalu' was included in the syllabus asthe non-detailed subject for them. 'How can westudy the book when each sentence runs to 70 to80 lines' was their grouse. Taking the incident inhis stride, Viswanadha took a swipe at the boys atthe felicitation function. 'I have already beenhonoured at the gate. Why again here ', he asked.



'The boys here appear to be quite gifted', heremarked sarcastically.

I was witness to many such incidents atBandar. I failed in one subject in F. A. second year(plus two stage) but cleared it in the supplementaryexamination. Instead of idling my time, I visitedmy eldest brother, Janardhana Rao, then workingas tahsildar in Warangal. I had seen the thousand-pillared temple in my earlier trips. Warangal townthen had a number of tongas. It being a forest area,many locals and rich shikaris enjoyed huntingwildlife. The shikaris would visit my brother ashe was the tahsildar there.

My brother suggested that , instead of losingthe academic year, I join Vivek Vardhini Collegein Hyderabad which admitted students passing thesupplementary examination. He got me enrolledin the college. A couple of us stayed in the outhouseof one Shahbuddin Ahmed Khan, a Barrister andMayor, in Troop Bazar, near our college. Khan andJ. V. Narsing Rao, president of Pradesh Congress,were good friends. We used to go to a hotel atMoazzamjahi Market for a cup of pauna chai, thickand undiluted. The Gandhi Bhavan also was closeby. Even while in the college, politics exerted strongpull which I found difficult to shrug off. I madeacquaintance with Narsing Rao and ValluruBasava Raju ( V. B. Raju) popular as 'AparaChanakya'. M. Satyanarayana Rao andUppunuthala Purushotham Reddy were myclassmates and Palavai Goverdhan Reddy our



junior. Satyanarayana Rao, Rao Saheb as we calledhim, was already married. He rose to becomegeneral secretary of the AICC, president of thePCC and Minister. Purushotham Reddy andGoverdhan Reddy also became Ministers. Anotherclass fellow was Adusumilli Panduranga Rao, wholike me came from Andhra area. He too wasinclined to joining politics, but took to legalpractice. I was introduced to the Deputy ChiefMinister, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who visited ourcollege at the instance of MSR, PurushothamReddy and Goverdhan Reddy. We also had theprivilege of listening to a brilliant speech by V. K.Krishna Menon, Union Minister.

Vivek Vardhini College, managed byMaharashtrians, was the fount of politicalconsciousness and had groomed a number ofyoungsters for the nationalist movement. It wascredited with supplying 'oxygen for the liberationmovement of Telangana'. Satwalekar, a soft-spoken man and a visionary, was our principal.His wife was a renowned doctor belonging to apatriotic family. PS Rao was a fine English teacher.Many were the unforgettable moments of days inthe college.

Police Action in Hyderabad

Most of the spirited young men who fought forliberation of Telangana were from the ReddyHostel or the Nizam College. A galaxy of leaders



like Ravi Narayana Reddy, Konda Venkata RangaReddy, Madapati Hanumantha Rao, MandumulaNarasinga Rao, Baddam Yella Reddy, ArutlaRamchandra Reddy, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddyroused the people to fight the tyrannical rule ofthe Nizam. Telangana was liberated followingSardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's far-sighted decisionto order Police Action.

In the valiant struggle for liberation, manyactivists of the movement were shot dead by theNizam's Army and the Razakars. Villages werelooted and burnt down and women molested duringthe reign of terror unleashed by Khasim Razvi andhis band of Razakars with the tacit support of theNizam. Marri Channa Reddy would often recallthese atrocities. Channa Reddy and his familymoved to Vijayawada for safety and PV NarasimhaRao to Nagpur during those harrowing days. Thepolice action began on September 13 and endedon September 18 enabling the people of Telanganato breathe free.

I remember the statement of the Chief MinisterBurgula Ramakrishna Rao that an acre of landwas worth Rs 4000 in Andhra region against onlyRs 400 in Telangana area. If the people of the tworegions came together, Telangana also couldprosper agriculturally. Channa Reddy and KondaVenkata Ranga Reddy disagreed with him.Aggressive by temperament, Channa Reddylaunched a movement for separateTelangana state.



Visaalandhra movement

Burgula tried his best to persuade Nehru thatVisaalandhra, bringing together the Telugus fromdifferent regions, was imperative. Nehru was notconvinced, because he was not aware of any suchdemand.. 'We do not even know whether the peoplewant it or not', he wondered. Burgula immediatelycontacted his Home Minister Digamber Rao Binduon phone and asked him to organise a publicmeeting . 'Sir. We and communists braved lathiblows for Visaalandhra. Those opposing it are veryfew', Bindu replied.

Armed with this, Burgula met the Union HomeMinister, Gobind Ballabh Pant, convinced himabout his case and used his good offices to getNehru to address a public meeting in Nizamabad.It was at this meeting that Nehru made the historicannouncement about Visaalandhra.

We friends used to frequent Sultan Bazarknown for the landmark Clock Tower and AndhraBook House nearby. The clock tower was therallying point for the anti-Nizam forces which heldmeetings and demonstrations there. In fact, thecampaign for Andhras under one roof dates backto the founding of Sri Krishnadevaraya AndhraBasha Nilayam in Sultan Bazar in 1901. The CityCongress office was next door. Eminent men likeNayani Venkata Ranga Rao, Raja of Munagala,Madapati Hanumantha Rao, Raja BahadurVenkatram Reddy , Kotwal of Hyderabad, were



behind the starting of the Library, which in thecourse of time became a beacon for those fightingthe Nizam. These forces derived great strengthfrom the people's support. The brave people ofTelangana wrote a golden chapter in history whenthey faced the might of the Nizam's army withcountry-made fire-arms, spears and chilli powder.

Burgula was the moving spirit behind theVisaalandhra movement. He led a team of hisCabinet colleagues and MLAs to Bezawada GopalaReddy, Chief Minister of Andhra State, andsucceeded in convincing him and also theGovernment of India. In the larger interests ofunity of the Telugu-speaking people, he sacrificedthe Chief Minister's post. This large-heartedgesture should never be forgotten. In thedevelopments that followed, he was sent to Keralaas Governor. Had he been nominated to the RajyaSabha, Ramakrishna Rao would have become theHome Minister in Nehru's Cabinet. This did nothappen because of the unhelpful attitude ofNeelam Sanjiva Reddy. It was very unfortunate.

The people of Hyderabad were not influencedby caste or religion until after the advent of ourpeople from Andhra when they became tools ofpower politics. It will be interesting to note thatSanjiva Reddy was the Deputy Chief Minister inthe Cabinet of Bezawada Gopala Reddy. WhenAndhra Pradesh was formed, Gopala Reddybecame member of the Sanjiva Reddy Ministry.Neither considered it infra dig to work under the



other. They were above narrow considerations,their only concern being the welfare of the peopleand the development of the State. Konda VenkataRanga Reddy was offered the Deputy ChiefMinister's post. Stalwarts like Kala Venkata Raowere in Sanjiva Reddy's Cabinet. The generalpublic also fostered a broad-minded catholicoutlook.

Channa Reddy, who was out of the Congressfor some time, organised a public meetingaddressed by C. Rajagopalachari. He returned tothe parent party and held several key positions inthe party and the Government. I happened toattend the meeting held on a vacant ground inKothi. Andhra Bank building now stands in thatplace. Sanjiva Reddy went to Delhi as partypresident at the behest of Nehru and DamodaramSanjivayya was named the Chief Minister. Thestate of party affairs was such those days that KasuBrahmananda Reddy had to intervene in hiscapacity as the Chief Minister just to get KakaniVenkata Ratnam accommodated in the PradeshElection Committee.

Mysore Café, Brindavan Hotel on the Nampallystation road, Vasant Vihar in the Abids, DwarakaHotel in Lakdi-ka-Pul alone used to offeraccommodation to people coming from our region.Some others managed accommodation in the MLAquarters.

As a students whenever I visited the Abids, I



could see only cars belonging to the 'Nizam nawab',hardly those of any others. Another sight in thecity was of carriages drawn by sturdy mules. Lifeas a whole and our studies in the metropolitanculture of Hyderabad was hassle-free.

Visaalandhra became an issue in my studentdays itself. Separate Telangana protagonists burntdown the car of the Chief Minister BurgulaRamakrishna Rao, an ardent advocate of anintegrated State for the Telugus. He lived in ShahManzil now renamed Raj Bhavan, the officialresidence of the Governor. As supporters of theVisalaandhra movement, we used to meet Burgula.We were awe-struck by the imposing interiors ofthe Shah Manzil. Paintings depicting events andpersonalities of the Nizam era enhanced theelegance of the ornate- looking hall.

Sastry - a towering personality

I often heard from old-timers about the key roleplayed by S. N. Sastry, a prominent journalist, inHyderabad's accession to the Indian Union. I hadthe good fortune of meeting him. Many were theanecdotes and events of those days that he recalledfor my benefit. The Government of India's AgentGeneral in Hyderabad, K. M. Munshi, used to stayin what is now 'Rashtrapati Nilayam' in Bolarumin the Cantonment area. It was said that he wouldgive his assessment of the ground situation to theUnion Home Minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, on thebasis of critical inputs provided by S. N. Sastry.



Such was Sastry's ability to analyse developments.He knew most of the Prime Ministers (that washow Chief Ministers were known) in the Nizam'sState and maintained close contacts with them.The Police Action, on the whole, went off smoothly.

On the suggestion of friends, I joined EveningLaw College in Tilak Road after completing B. A.in Vivek Vardhini College. At the same time, Ipursued Diploma in Local Self-Government. By thetime I finished Law, my qualifications read thus:Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, B. A. , Ll.B., LSGD.

I and Adusumilli Panduranga Rao enrolled asmembers of the Riding Club for fun andoccasionally enjoyed horse-riding.

A Muslim friend introduced me to RamchandraReddy, Deshmukh of Visunur. Sri Satya Sai Babaused to visit Ramchandra Reddy's house. ThePuttaparthi Baba personally conducted mymarriage with Lalitha B. A. in 1959. Her parentsVasireddy Venkaiah Choudary and Laksmi Devi,were devotees of Baba. Venkaiah Choudary was adistinguished lawyer who earned his doctorate inlaw in London and practised law in Madras,Guntur and Hyderabad.

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Early phase as lawyer

With the Law degree in hand, I looked aroundfor a job. With none forthcoming, I joined asapprentice under Challa Kondaiah, who laterbecame the Chief Justice, and then as the juniorof Duvvuri Narasa Raju in 1961.

I began independent practice, but my mind wasnever in it. With the help of Sri Satya Sai Baba,my father-in-law got me appointed as personnelmanager in Rao Insulators in Bangalore. It didnot take me long to realise that the job in a privatecompany did not fit in with my avowed objectivein life. I was back in Hyderabad in six months.How could I go back to the bar again?

Hearing about vacancies in the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), I went to Delhi in the hopeof landing a job with the help of influential friends.Dr. Naidu was then working in the External AffairsMinistry and G. V. Subba Rao was planning officerfor Asia region at the UNICEF. I intended to utilisethe good offices of Damodaram Sanjivaiah, alreadyan established leader in the Congress party. I alsomade acquaintance with Col. Raju, Member ofParliament from Rajahmundry. He was a Ministerin Nehru's Cabinet. Col. Raju was earlier personalphysician of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

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Another new acquaintance was KothaRaghuramaiah, who wielded a lot of clout in ourarea. However, the collective efforts of these peoplewere of little avail as an Australian walked awaythe prized job. I was crest-fallen.

I was a familiar figure, thanks to my activeinvolvement in the Youth Congress activities.People would treat me with affection and respect.I would look wistfully at the Teen Murti House,where Jawaharlal Nehru lived, as I passed by iton my way to the residence of G. V. Subba Rao.Horse riding in Teen Murti compound was aregular habit of Nehru. I watched him many times.I was in Delhi when his death plunged the entirecountry in grief. The people could not digest thepassing away of free India's Prime Minister for 17long years. Few leaders had endeared themselvesto the people as closely as Nehru had. He wasuniversally acclaimed as a great statesman, afriend of the masses, a leader par excellence. Thecountry found itself in a quandary. Dr. Naiduinformed me about the tragedy at 8:30 in themorning and took me to the Teen Murti House.Only J. B. Kripalani was seen standing near thebody. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Nehru's sister, wasyet to arrive from Bombay. I could vividly recallthe picture on that fateful day.

Gulzari Lal Nanda, then Home Minister, wassworn in the interim Prime Minister. Who canuphold Nehru's lofty values and continue his



legacy? That was the question most widely debatedthose days. The Congress high command namedLal Bahadur Shastri to be the full-fledged PrimeMinister. I attended Nehru's funeral, paid tearfulhomage to the great leader and prayed for him.Many such memories remain engraved in my mind.I pondered about my own future. Some peoplecomplimented me on my abilities, but all the sameI was denied the kind of recognition I expected,both in Hyderabad and my own region.

Back at the bar

People in politics cannot do without tact anddiplomacy. Knowing that these traits werewoefully lacking in me, I decided to return to thebar, this time taking the job in right earnest. Hardwork and dedication soon earned a name for me.My successes endeared me to the clients andenhanced my standing among the lawyers. I wasaccepted on a par with the stalwarts. I was theyoungest among the handful of leading lawyers. Iscored significant victories arguing againstrenowned adversaries. I used to charge the clientsmoderately. Those days fees ranged between Rs500 and Rs 2000 - almost a world of difference fromtoday's astronomical demands. I had half a dozenassistants, including two stenographers. I believethe God alone conferred upon me this status. Onaccount of this elevation, I also incurred thejealousy of some people.



I followed professional norms in letter andspirit and adhered to ethical values. As a successfullawyer, I also earned a lot. Knowing my abilities,Boddepally Rajagopala Rao (veteran leader ofSrikakulam district and former MP) gave me abrief against N. G. Ranga in the High Court. Whiletaking it up, I decided that the case alone mattered,not the fame or the status of the adversary. In viewof my connection with politics, most of the casesbrought to me related to politics. It was againpolitics that enhanced my popularity as a lawyer.

Naturally, I was considered as a Congresslawyer. In the Sixties, we formed 'Young LawyersAssociation'. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy came fromDelhi to inaugurate it. We offered free legal adviceto the poor.

I could not remain isolated from politics despitepre-occupation with the legal practice. The urgeto gravitate to politics was overpowering. I wasalready member of the all India CongressCommittee as well as of the Pradesh CongressCommittee. I was closely watching politicaldevelopments and the changes sweeping thecountry those days.

I was one of the APCC members who hademphatically maintained in 1968 that unless KasuBrahmananda Reddy stepped down as the ChiefMinister immediately, the ongoing Telanganaagitation would not subside. The Government had



even considered arresting me. I was a successlawyer and dynamic politician. It was only naturalthat that the Congress party recognised myabilities. Surprisingly, I was nominated torepresent the distant Srikakulam district, wherethe Vamsadhara flowed, in preference to theKrishna catchment, where I studied in Donepudiand Bandar, or to Hyderabad. I was thensupporting Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.

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The Youth Congress Days

I attended the Pachmarhi session of the YouthCongress at the behest of Palavai GoverdhanReddy, then president of the State unit. IndiraGandhi, a past president of the Youth Congress,addressed the session as the Prime Minister.Narayan Dutt Tiwari, who later became ChiefMinister of UP and Uttaranchal and the Governorof Andhra Pradesh, had just then been electedpresident of the Youth Congress.

In the wake of differences between IndiraGandhi and Kamaraj Nadar, the party heldseparate sessions in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Icould not forget the momentous occasion. Asmember of the executive committee of all-IndiaYouth Congress, I invited our general secretary,Tarakeswari Sinha to tour our State. We addressedsome meetings. Around the same time, the partysplit into the official Congress and theorganisational Congress, following thecontroversial decision to nominate Neelam SanjivaReddy as the candidate for the presidentialelection.

With the decent income from practice, I bought50 acres of land on the Karimnagar road, another10 acres in Patancheru industrial area, apart from

chapter 4


a couple of house-sites. I also built a house inHyderabad, in addition to the one I live now. I wasflush with money. It needed to be investedjudiciously. Legal practice was the only source ofincome. I successfully argued a case in which twopersons of Vijayawada were convicted of murderand saved them from the gallows.

The Telangana agitation was at its peak in1968-69. Many youngsters had lost their lives.Many of us felt that Kasu Brahmananda Reddyshould step down immediately if the integrity ofthe State had to be preserved. With the situationdeteriorating, Indira Gandhi flew down toHyderabad and unseated Brahmananda Reddy.

Separate Telangana Agitation

Capping many rounds of parleys and intensedebate, P. V. Narasimha Rao was named the newChief Minister. Reacting to the Supreme Courtverdict on the Mulki issue, Narasimha Rao said itput a finality to the issue. This hasty andthoughtless observation triggered hostile reactionfrom the people in Andhra region and divided theCabinet as well. The separate Andhra agitationhad the blessings of veterans like KakaniVenkataratnam, B. V. Subba Reddy, P. Basi Reddyand Battina Subba Rao. Many leaders rebelledagainst Narasimha Rao and took to the streets tointensify the agitation.

One night I received a call from Ch. V. P.



Murthy Raju, Minister in Narasimha Rao'sCabinet, about the death of KakaniVenkataratnam, who was also in the Cabinet.Kakani had a soft corner for me. I tried to contactNarasimha Rao on phone. Then I rushed to AnandaNilayam (official residence of the Chief Minister)in my Fiat and woke him up. I pleaded with himto rush to Vijayawada at once and pay last respectsto the departed colleague. Otherwise, it would bedifficult to save the Government. I tendered thisadvice as a sincere Congress worker, anxiouslywatching the alarming developments.

Narasimha Rao ignored my advice. Afraid offacing the wrath of the people in Andhra, heinstead called an emergency Cabinet meeting toadopt a condolence resolution. Content with thistoken display of sympathy, PV restrained otherMinisters also from going to Vijayawada. It was ablatant act of cowardice.

V. V. Giri, who was President, wondered howcould a Chief Minister, who lacked courage toattend the last rites of his own colleague, beexpected to govern the State and exerted pressureon Indira Gandhi to sack him. The President's Rulefollowed.

The Government of India sent Haris ChandraSarin, a retired IAS officer, as Advisor to theGovernor. A shrewd and dynamic officer, capableof quick decisions, Sarin soon endeared himself to



all sections with his style of efficient functioning.He advised Indira Gandhi to appoint JalagamVengala Rao as the Chief Minister. Vengala Rao,he said, would be acceptable to Telangana andAndhra regions. This was done.

Meanwhile, another calamity overtook thecountry in the form of Emergency, plunging it inchaos. Political leaders were put behind the bars.

Indira and the Congress routed

The emergency had a disastrous fall-out onIndira Gandhi and the Congress in the 1977elections to the Lok Sabha. The leader and theparty were routed. She nominated KasuBrahmananda Reddy as president of the party.Brahmananda Reddy expelled her from the partyblaming her personally for the election debacle.Vengala Rao, then Chief Minister, heartilyendorsed the action. Ironically, she was thrownout by the very person she had chosen to bepresident.

No wonder, they say, inscrutable are the waysof Destiny. Indira Gandhi was all alone. Even hertrusted lieutenant, Kotha Raghuramaiah, desertedher to join Janata Party, peeved at the elevationof Brahmananda Reddy as the Congress president.One wondered how Indira Gandhi, who had heldthe office of prime minister, could face the newchallenge. She was not the one to be cowed downby adversity.



Following the landslide victory in the LokSabha elections, Morarji Desai was made thePrime Minister on the advice of Jai PrakashNarayan. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy became theSpeaker and later the President. Jagjivan Ram andCharan Singh were senior members of the newJanata Party Ministry.

Channa Reddy, who was the Governor of UttarPradesh, who was not on best of terms with CharanSingh, resigned his post and returned to the Statepolitics. He was then toying with the idea of joiningthe Janata Party.

M. Ramchandra Reddy, an advocate,introduced me to Channa Reddy. Soon ourfriendship became stronger. One day ChannaReddy asked me if I could mobilise a few hundredparty workers from Vijayawada and for his part,he would organise party men from Telanganaregion. He suggested that we convene a meetingin Hyderabad where future course of action couldbe formulated. Vengala Rao was the Chief Ministerand the Janata Party was in power at the Centre.Channa Reddy was still weighing the possibilityof joining the Janata Party. Pidathala RangaReddy, Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy and someseniors were vehemently opposed to supportingIndira Gandhi. So were Bhavanam Venkatram andGade Venkata Reddy, now MLA from Bapatla.They walked out of the meeting saying they wouldhave nothing to do with Indira Gandhi. I waskeenly following these developments.



Regional party mooted

Channa Reddy, Ramachandra Reddy and I,after thorough deliberations, convened the meetingattended by about 300 workers. Some speakers feltthat Indira's stock had gone down and that shewould be a liability. Channa Reddy favoured aregional party for the State, but the cadre presentwas not sure if the idea was workable. Even leaderslike Prakasam and N.G. Ranga had almostforfeited their identity by starting regional party.They were in a quandary as to the future if theyleft the Congress. Some leaders asserted that theypart with Indira. 'Would she allow you to becomeChief Minister', they demanded to know of ChannaReddy. I was clear in my mind that our survivaland future was linked to Indira Gandhi. So wemust sail with her.

Party men visiting me would repeatedly say itwas possible to form the Government in the Stateif Indira Gandhi was persuaded to leave theCongress party and start her own. I regularlybriefed Channa Reddy about these developments.Channa Reddy's confidence in me was growing bythe day as he felt that all my predictions werecoming true. 'What Bhaskar says soundsconvincing, but Indira Gandhi cannot be trusted',Channa Reddy felt.

Around this time, Devraj Urs deputed one Mrs.Prasad of Delhi to hold discussions with ChannaReddy in Hyderabad. After meeting Channa



Reddy, his aides and S. N. Sastry of Eenadu, shemade a proposal. Channa Reddy invited C.Jagannatha Rao and me to join for lunch to discussher proposal. I rejected outright the proposal for ajoint regional party for Karnataka and AndhraPradesh as unsuitable for us. I and JagannathaRao minced no words to insist that we stay withIndira Gandhi considering the people'soverwhelming confidence in her leadership. Thiswas also in the best interests of the State. ChannaReddy was unable to come to a conclusion.

A week later, Mrs. Prasad informed Urs thatChanna Reddy was dithering because of the stiffopposition voiced by 'a youngster Bhaskara Rao'and that Urs should lose no time in going toHyderabad. Urs flew down to Hyderabad by aspecial plane. Channa Reddy invited me,Jagannatha Rao and Sastry for the luncheonmeeting with Urs. We discussed threadbare thepolitical situation and the need for a regional party.Urs, who saw me at the lunch, remarked 'Thisyoung man seems to be prophetic in his words' andmade enquiries about me with Channa Reddy. Ireiterated my stand more forcefully. I advised themto split the party, throw out Kasu BrahmanandaReddy and bring back Indira Gandhi to the centre-stage. Indira's party will be our party, I said firmly.They had no choice but to bow to the sheer force ofmy argument. I also reiterated my stand onforming regional party and the futility of such aventure.



Catastrophic cyclone

A few days before the meeting, the coastalareas were battered by the worst cyclonic stormand tidal ways known to history on November 19,1977, spreading devastation particularly inKrishna and Guntur districts. Thousands of peopleand animals were killed. It caused unprecedentedloss of property and extensive damage to crops. Iwanted Channa Reddy to visit the area and consolethe people in distress, but he was reluctant. Hefelt he might not be welcome there in view of histirade against the Andhra people during theTelangana agitation. I allayed his fears and gothim to make the trip. Me, Channa Reddy and thechairman of the Warangal zilla parishadextensively toured the affected areas in Diviseemaand Guntur district. The situation there washorrendous. It was Nature's macabre Dance ofDeath. Our heart bled for the sufferings of thepeople. There was no power supply nor availabilityof drinking water. Trees were uprooted. Deadbodies were piled in heaps and reeked of foul smell.The bloated bodies were beyond recognition. Thesurvivors were dazed and shocked beyond words.We wondered why the sea had wrought such havoc.We returned to Hyderabad with a heavy heart.

Indira Gandhi also visited the area to consolethe cyclone-hit families. Despite being out of powerand a victim of political witch-hunt, she chose toshare the woes of the people who had steadfastly



supported her and to express sympathy with them.People lined up all along the route to welcome her.As the area was without power, they welcomedher holding petromax lamps. The enthusiasticreception proved Indira Gandhi's magical hold onthe people. Channa Reddy who saw this for himselfbriefed Devaraj Urs also.

Channa Reddy and Urs met KamalapathiTripathi in Delhi to suggest that the party shouldbe split and the Indira faction declared as the realCongress. Tripathi was not willing, but a few morerounds of persuasion brought him round. Partyseniors cautioned Indira Gandhi against takingany hasty move. She was in a fix, but did not stopconsultations with her close aides.

The new party is born

Towards the close of 1977, S. N. Sastry, whowas posted to New Delhi as Eenadu correspondent,met Indira Gandhi and told her that time was ripeto strike. Hers was the real party and she shouldunfurl the flag of the new party, he told her.Emboldened by this, she proceeded to VithalbhaiPatel House with Devaraj Urs and unfurled thenew flag. This is the real Congress, she declared,and named it Indira Congress. The gatheringcheered her wildly.

Abdul Rehman Antulay was general secretaryof Indira Congress and Buta Singh joint secretary.Instructions were issued to raise Rs 50,000 each



for the Party Fund for setting up State units.Channa Reddy, then in Delhi, asked me to arrangefor Rs 50,000 immediately. I drew Rs 10,000 frommy wife's account and sent the cash to Delhithrough Mallikharjun. Channa Reddy returnedafter getting clearance for his nomination as thepresident and mine as the general secretary of theState unit of the Indira Congress.

We convened a meeting in the Gandhi Bhavan.None of Channa Reddy's followers turned up. Theyeven refused to attend. We got our intimateassociate Tirupurana Raghava Das to preside. Wewere the speakers.

Very soon, the exodus from Vengala Rao'sCabinet began with some Ministers resigning andjoining our party, one by one. Indira Gandhi hadalready nominated Channa Reddy as the presidentand me as the general secretary of AP unit of theparty.

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The Indira Congress surge 1978

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka legislatureswent to the polls in the first week of March 1978.We in the Indira Congress did not have enoughresources to fight the elections. We formed acommittee to select candidates. Senior politiciansof the day were quite skeptical about the winningprospects of a fledgling party like ours. SomeMinisters in the Vengala Rao Cabinet were alreadywith us and many enthusiastic youngsters joinedour ranks. We did encounter problems selectingthe right candidates, running the campaign andorganising publicity material. A new party has itsown blessings. Where else can newcomers findopportunity to enter politics? People were yetunconvinced about Indira Gandhi's ability to pulloff a victory. Nobody gave the party a ghost of achance.

I and G. Rajaram were also drafted on theelection committee. We could not find anyone tocontest in Srikakulam. We picked a bus conductor.P. Rajagopala Naidu from Chittoor districtdemanded four seats for the Kamma communityand recommended four young aspirants, includingNara Chandrababu Naidu. I was asked to look intotheir background. I got favourable reports except

chapter 5


in respect of Chandrababu Naidu. The only positivepoint in the report on Chandrababu Naidu wasthat he had championed the cause of the Kammasvis-à-vis the Reddys in Sri VenkateswaraUniversity in Tirupati. Channa Reddy clearedChandrababu's name as he was willing to bear pollexpenses to a tune of Rs 5,000.

Chief Minister Jalagam Vengala Rao stayedon with Brahmananda Reddy faction. Togetherthey finalised the candidates for the party and theJanata Party, in power at the Centre, also fieldedcandidates. Both parties brimmed with confidence.Not many even bothered about the IndiraCongress.

Channa Reddy decided to contest fromMedchal. Logically, I should have contested fromTenali, Duggirala or Vemur in my native Gunturdistrict, but Channa Reddy was keen on fieldingme from Vijayawada II as no leader in Krishnadistrict was prepared to back the Indira Congress.Not many in the party were pleased with thechoice.

Seat of stalwarts

Vijayawada was not just the centre of Krishnadistrict but a political hub for the entire coastalarea. Many leaders from different parts of the Statehad successfully contested from Vijayawada. Oneneed not be necessarily from Vijayawada, ChannaReddy reasoned with me. Vijayawada voters were



politically well-informed and discussed eveninternational developments, whether in New Yorkor Moscow. While I was happy to contest from aseat earlier adorned by such stalwarts asAyyadevara Kaleswara Rao and Dr. T. V. S.Chalapathi Rao, I was also aware that winningwas no easy job. A number of friends, party menand intellectuals cut across caste, religious andregional barriers to secure my victory. Vijayawadawas once a bastion of the communists, but peoplesaw me through. The Indira Congress won thepopular mandate.

Election of CLP leader

The high command sent Uma Shanker Dixitto Hyderabad as observer to oversee election of thelegislature party leader. Rajaram was keen onbecoming the Chief Minister and capable of pullingstrings with Indira Gandhi. Channa Reddy alsoenjoyed the blessings of party seniors in Delhi.

Some felt it was unfair to bypass ChannaReddy, who led the party to success, in favour ofanother. They brought pressure on Indira Gandhinot to consider anyone else. For the sake of record,Dixit took individual opinion of all MLAs. Iproposed Channa Reddy's name and suggestedthat he would be made the Chief Minister. OtherMLAs too followed suit. Of course, there were somewho were badly affected by the 1969 Telanganaagitation led by Channa Reddy.



Indira Gandhi was our mascot and the onlyweapon in the election campaign. She drewunprecedented crowds wherever she went. We didnot have to mobilise crowds. They waited for hoursto listen to her. She reached Vijayawada at 2 inthe morning, nine hours behind schedule. It beingtoo late, I requested her to come again, which shedid a few days later. What a response? What aturn-out? She herself was confounded by theenthusiastic support. We were convinced thatnothing could stop us. Our baffled rivals could notread the pulse of the people. As the daughter ofJawaharlal Nehru, as former prime minister anda tall leader who led the country on the path ofprogress, Indira Gandhi won the heart of thevoters. She strained every nerve to win theelections.

Channa Reddy entrusted the campaign to meon a shoe-string budget. We had no resources, norwere donors inclined to contribute. They wereskeptical of our prospects. Believe it or not, ourassistance to the candidates was not enough to buya single meal! They won solely on the name ofIndira Gandhi.

Story of Hand Symbol

Here is some interesting episode. The seniorpontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham happenedto be in Madanapalle when Indira Gandhi visitedthe town. In an audience with the Kanchi Swami,



she sought his advice on the election symbol. TheMahaswami merely raised his hand by way ofblessing. Yes. We decided instantly that 'Hand'should be our poll symbol. It turned out to be ourtalisman. Not many people know of this episode.Most of us had already filed our nominations andthe Hand symbol was allotted to us in time. Ourrivals and some officers made fun of our symbolasking us 'have they given you the hand?' We hadthe last laugh when people gave us a hugemandate.

The common man felt that the JanataGovernment had harassed Indira Gandhi in manyways. It appointed commissions of inquiry andmade her run around the courts. She washumiliated without even consideration that shewas a woman and once the prime minister. Thepeople condemned this witch-hunting and longedto see her again as the prime minister.

Most of our newly-elected members were first-timers who rode to victory on the name of IndiraGandhi. The Channa Reddy Government tookoffice on March 6, 1978. Channa Reddy wantedthe Speaker's post for a Kamma. I being too youngfor the post, he asked me to get Divi KondaiahChoudary's consent for the post. He agreed.

I could perceive some change in ChannaReddy's attitude to me after the election. It wassaid he was prone to listening to tale-bearers. Some



worthies were bent upon scuttling my entry intothe Cabinet. These 'Mayala Marathis' (evil-mindedelements) were on the crooked job. ChanumoluVenkata Rao and Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao,who won on the Congress (R) ticket, went to meetChanna Reddy, accompanied by AkkineniNageswara Rao. Their mission was simply this:'Do not take Bhaskara Rao who is from Gunturdistrict. Never mind if our Krishna district is notrepresented in the Cabinet'. They wanted to derivemaximum mileage from the close friendshipbetween the actor and the Chief Minister. Theywere afraid that if I were taken into the Cabinet,they would be relegated to the political dustbin.

People are not always what they appear to be,unless the mask is removed. Channa Reddy onceasked me to telephone a leading actor forcontribution to the party fund. Obviously smarterthan the politicians, the actor made it known hewas not at home. NG Ranga and KLN Prasad ofthe Brahmananda Reddy faction, applied pressureat New Delhi level to sabotage my chances. Theysettled for Koneru Ranga Rao as their choice fromKrishna district.

The campaign against me apparently had someeffect. Channa Reddy inducted me only as aMinister without Cabinet rank. I had no choice.But within a couple of months, I was elevated tothe Cabinet rank with major portfolios. This wassurprising indeed, considering the fact that many



people, jealous of my growing importance andpopularity, carried tales to the Chief Minister.

Channa Reddy had a brainwave. He decidedto admit MLAs from the Brahmananda ReddyCongress and the Janata party and entrusted thejob to me as the Minister for Legislative Affairs.D. L. Ravindra Reddy and Siva Reddy fromCuddapah had easy passage, but Y. S. RajasekharaReddy had to wait for some time, because ChannaReddy entertained some reservations aboutRajasekhara Reddy who also won on Cong R ticket.

The all India Youth Congress planned toorganise a training camp in Nagarjunasagar.Ramachandra Rath was president and GhulamNabi Azad secretary. The Chief Minister left thejob of making arrangements to me and BhavanamVenkatram, who was also Minister. Indira Gandhiflew in by a regular flight from Delhi. We receivedher at the airport and motored down toNagarjunasagar.

The fateful prediction

On our way back, she sat in the front seat whileI and Channa Reddy were in the rear. I told IndiraGandhi 'Madam, there is an astrologer here whopredicts your come-back as the Prime Minister. Ican ask him to come, if you please'. His name wasNageswara Sastry. She was not inclined at first,but agreed. Being a highly traditional man andbeliever in customs, Sastry did not want to sit face



to face with her and make the prophecies. He satdown on the floor and made some notings on apaper. Instead of addressing her by name, hereferred to her as 'Nandivardhanam' (Rose Bayflower). 'Nandivardhanam will become PrimeMinister again', he said,' but before that she willbe in jail for three days'. Sastry also forecast thather son would die in an air crash, the Morarji DesaiGovernment would fall and Parliament dissolved.We were stunned. We disagreed with theastrologer, saying it was simply impossible. But,Sastry stuck to his guns. Indira Gandhi wasshaken when she heard about the fate of her son.She anxiously enquired if there was some way toprotect her son. Sastry sent her a 'yantram'(talisman) through me.

The Central Government fell plumb on the daySastry had forecast. Indira Gandhi was in prisonfor 8 days, instead of 3 as predicted by him. Asdoting mother, Indira performed many rituals withthe yantram to save her son. Who can alter thecourse of Destiny?

Indira Gandhi summoned Channa Reddy, me,Hashim Ali and Mallikarjun to Delhi amid reportsof desertions from the Janata party. She used tolive in a private house belonging to Mohd. Younus.We met her there. Sanjay Gandhi literally grabbedme by the hand and drove me to his office with V.Hanumantha Rao in the rear seat. Naturally, anyChief Minister was bound to view it with a mix of



pain, jealousy and even anxiety. Channa Reddywas upset by the extra friendly manner in whichSanjay Gandhi whisked me off in his car.

Honestly, nothing had transpired between meand Sanjay. He just wanted to show his office andexhort us all to work together. That was enoughto drive a wedge between me and the ChiefMinister. His attitude to me changed overnight.He would suspect everything I did. The chasmwidened. Differences arose between Channa Reddyand Indira Gandhi, although they did not surface.Channa Reddy misread the relations betweenSanjay Gandhi and me and harboured needlesssuspicion. My Delhi trips further fuelled thesemisgivings.

In the context of rapid erosion of the JanataParty strength in Parliament, Channa Reddy, Iand other leaders met the President NeelamSanjiva Reddy and informed him that a change ofGovernment appeared inevitable. Janata Partyleaders countered this. Sanjiva Reddy asked Y. B.Chavan to form the Government after the fall ofMorarji Desai Ministry, but he was not willing. Itwas widely expected that Jagjivan Ram would beinvited to form the Government, but Sanjiva Reddyinstead appointed Charan Singh as the new PrimeMinister. Everybody expected Charan Singh tomeet Indira Gandhi for support in the motion ofconfidence in Parliament, but personal pride andego came in the way. He failed the floor test. Fresh



elections had to be called with Charan Singh asthe care-taker Prime Minister.

Widening rift with Channa Reddy

T. Anjaiah and a few other seniors who hadlost in the 1978 Assembly elections used to visitme on and off because of my proximity to the ChiefMinister. I could not but entertain them. After allthey were our party men. Channa Reddy cautionedme against some leaders, including Anjaiah, but Icould not appreciate the full import of his warning.I did not know what was brewing.

One day Channa Reddy asked me to clear theMLA quarters of non-members. I did not know whohe had in mind, may be P. V. Narasimha Rao. Asthe Minister for Legislative Affairs, I told theofficer concerned to evict the non-memberswhoever they be. PV had to vacate the quarter.This might be one reason for PV's vindictiveattitude to me.

Channa Reddy was born in an ordinaryagricultural family, but his personality exudedgrandeur, majesty and attraction. He loved to leada royal life and fulfill every desire. Accordingly,he planned to have his sasthipoorthy celebrationsin a grand style. This provided enough grist to themill of his detractors who went to New Delhi in adelegation and gave Indira Gandhi a blown-upaccount of the celebrations. They succeeded inwidening the already yawning wedge between the



two. I had already fallen foul of Channa Reddy,thanks to the Sanjay Gandhi episode. As consistentsupporter of Channa Reddy, I had to adopt a lowprofile under the circumstances. Meanwhile, hisdetractors stepped up the campaign backed bysome Union Ministers from the Telangana region.I found myself alone. To me only Anjaiah seemedto be friendly, but I realised that he too had nursedulterior motives.

My proximity to Sanjay Gandhi led to rumoursthat I might take over as the Chief Minister,causing further heart-burning among my enemies.In fact Channa Reddy and I used to function likefather and son in perfect tandem. We went to Delhibefore the parliamentary elections. I went to meetSanjay Gandhi, but instead found Indira Gandhi.She told me that fighting the election was a costlyaffair and that we should also share the burden.As desired by her, Channa Reddy, Devaraj Urs andI took it up as joint responsibility. The Hyderabad-bound aircraft stalled on the runway in Delhi.Channa Reddy, remembering miraculous escapefrom an air accident sometime ago, hurriedlyswitched to another plane.

Back in Hyderabad, I extended financial helpto my colleagues in the youth Congress and theparent body to fight the elections. It put a greatstrain on our meagre resources. People who hadwon the elections and risen to important positionshad conveniently forgotten that they owed it to



financial support from Channa Reddy and me. Farfrom showing gratitude, they targeted ChannaReddy with a missionary zeal to malign him.

Anjaiah's role

Indira Gandhi rehabilitated Anjaiah, who hadlost the Assembly election in Musheerabad, in theRajya Sabha and accommodated him in herCabinet as the Minister for Labour. Not satisfied,Anjaiah set eyes on the Chief Minister's gaddi andstepped up the campaign against Channa Reddy.I had treated Anjaiah all along as a friend andcolleague, but never did I suspect his intentions.

Channa Reddy reacted to the hostilepropaganda by sacking seven to eight Ministerswho he had suspected of being hand in glove withhis detractors. Some people saw my hand too inthe plot. Our relations turned sour as ChannaReddy grew increasingly jealous of my equationwith the Central leaders.

The Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat fell vacantwhen Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister. P.Shiv Shanker was actively lobbying for the post ofadvocate-general. P.Ramchandra Reddy, thenAdvocate General, was opposed to it. He remindedChanna Reddy that Shiv Shanker was the counselfor Vandemataram Ramachandra Rao in hiselection petition against Channa Reddy. The ChiefMinister reached an agreement for withdrawal ofthe petition, under which Vandemataram would



be made the Chairman of the Official LanguageCommission and Shiv Shanker as the partycandidate for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha by-election. I was in charge of the campaign for ShivShanker. The by-poll became a proxy fight betweenMorarji Desai and Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi,who was in Hyderabad for an election meeting,suggested to Channa Reddy that they visit myhouse.

I was not aware of the plan. I hurriedlyarranged for a sandalwood garland and asked mywife to garland the guest. Indira Gandhicomplimented me on my good work. She was sureof victory. Channa Reddy, who waited outside withothers, might have felt slighted. Added to this wasthe hype about me as 'the Rising Star'.

Then came the shocking news of SanjayGandhi's death in an air crash. We rushed to NewDelhi and remained there till the last rites. Wemet Rajiv Gandhi. He knew little of politics. Norwas he interested. The same man later becamenot only the Prime Minister but the hope of thenation. I returned to my routine work as Minister.

Channa Reddy was seething with anger thatAnjaiah had hatched a plot to unseat him whenIndira Gandhi invited him to join her Cabinet.Anjaiah and my name were doing the rounds forthe chief minister's post. Anjaiah asked me to meetIndira Gandhi and propose his name for the chief



minister's post and mine for the deputy chiefminister's. I did not oblige.

The moment had finally arrived. Anjaiah tookover as the Chief Minister after Channa Reddystepped down. All of us were anguished. It was anightmare and a black day. Channa Reddy wasbeyond compare. Anjaiah could not even hold acandle to him. We wondered if Anjaiah knew, muchless have, the credentials to hold the high officeand how he thought he was capable of governingthe big State. People dubbed the Chief Ministerand the Government inefficient. Anjaiah becamethe butt of jokes even among the general public.

There were three reasons for Anjaiah's choice.First he was Sanjay bhaktha, second he belongedto the backward classes and third, six more monthswere left for a Telangana leader to continue as theChief Minister. P. Shiv Shanker advised IndiraGandhi to appoint him.

One day, Anjaiah dropped a bombshell. He didnot belong to the backward classes and that hisfull name was Tanguturi Krishna Reddy! IndiraGandhi was surprised and pained at the turn.Central Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao prevailedupon Indira Gandhi to appoint Anjaiah and wasthereby responsible for the sorry state of affairs.

Anjaiah drew a flak for launching programmeswithout consulting the high command. He wasquite reluctant to induct me into his Cabinet,



despite getting full cooperation from me. He tookme in under pressure from the high command. Hegave me unimportant portfolios and humiliated mein other ways. He was also forced to prune theJumbo Cabinet by dropping 20 ministers. He couldnot get rid of me in the reshuffle. On the otherhand, he had to allot the important portfolio ofAgriculture. I became a red rag for him. Six monthslater, he sent me an unsigned letter asking me toresign, followed this immediately with the signedone. Why was this happening to me. I decided toinvestigate…..

It had transpired that a legislator from Krishnadistrict, jealous of me, filed a petition in the HighCourt, in the name of a villager whose signaturehad forged, that Anjaiah was not eligible to holdthe office. He cleverly shifted the blame on me toplease Anjaiah. The judge dismissed the petition,but the petitioner's counsel used his clout to delaythe verdict by a day. The legislator rushed the samenight to the Chief Minister and informed him thatI (Nadendla Bhaskar Rao) filed a petition againsthim. He advised Anjaiah to square it up with thejudge. Anyway the petition was dismissed. For allthe pains the legislator took, Anjaiah reciprocatedwith a mere 'Bahut shukria saab'. Another motivefor dropping me was a grim forecast by anastrologer that a 'fair-complexioned man fromGuntur' would become the chief minister. Anjaiahtook in K. Keshava Rao on the same day I resigned.



Sordid goings-on

I rushed to Delhi the same evening and briefedIndira Gandhi about the sordid goings-on in theState. She was surprised. 'I have not asked him todrop you. Was it not the Home Minister PrabhakarReddy that I wanted to resign? I have only askedhim (Anjaiah) to run the administration efficiently'.Anjaiah's style of functioning not only became alaughing stock, but became a huge liability to thehigh command.

Around the same time, Rajiv Gandhi was on avisit to Hyderabad. While proceeding to anotherplace, he asked the Chief Minister, whoaccompanied him, to get off the aircraft. Thisincident was distorted by the press, which becamea talking point everywhere. They created animpression that highers-up in Delhi were annoyedby the defiant attitude of Anjaiah who wasexpected to obey the high command. Anway, TheCentre decided on a change of leadership onaccount of inefficient functioning of the AnjaiahAdministration.

Then came Bhavanam Venkatram. He was amember of the Legislative Council. C. JagannathaRao, who was appointed the Deputy ChiefMinister, was also member of the Upper House.This signaled a new era in State politics. There isanother interesting aspect to this. Some UnionMinisters from Andhra Pradesh convinced the high



command that the party would win the nextelections with a big majority if Bhavanam waschosen for the CM's post. Their argument wasVenkatram represented a dominant caste groupin the State while his wife belonged to anothercaste group, equally powerful. Together they wouldbring a windfall for the Congress. I was not takenin Bhavanam Venkatram's Cabinet also. I confinedmyself to reading and attending to personal work.

Indira Gandhi was disheartened afterwatching the listless functioning of the BhavanamGovernment and sent Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddyas the fourth Chief Minister of the State. Peoplewere fed up with his administration too.

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Birth of the Regional party

The urge to float a regional party took deeperroots in me in the prevailing political climate.Bhavanam's decision not to take me in his Ministrywas a blessing in disguise. In a way, it catalysedmy decision to form the regional outfit.

The stage was set for the new party. I startedworking in that direction. Having won theAssembly seat on the Congress ticket, I decided toresign. Among those who supported me in formingthe regional party were fellow-MLAs, GaddeRatthaiah, C. Narayana and Adeyya. They werenot enthusiastic about quitting the Assembly.Since it was not morally or ethically correct to holdon to the seat after leaving the party, we decidedto resign.

When the moment actually came, the threeleaders backed off saying it was not necessary toresign for the sake of a party that was yet to takebirth. I quit the Assembly in early 1982.

I was drawn to politics as early as in mystudent days and was actively involved in theYouth Congress and the State politics. Mythoughts and plans were totally focused on politics.I did nothing but closely watch the changing

chapter 6


political alignments. I was not depressed by thepolitical developments overtaking the State.

A new idea flashed across my mind. WhenChanna Reddy had mooted the idea of starting aregional party, I had said the time was not ripeyet, but now I felt it was a crying necessity. Therewere other things to consider. Andhra politics aredistinctively different. Will the people bless thenew party over an established party like theCongress. Six months slipped by as we talked aboutAnjaiah's style of functioning, his frequent tripsto Delhi and his Government's rapidly falling stockwith the masses. Enough was enough. It was timeto act. I received clear feelers from my friends, well-wishers and the general public that now was thetime to start the regional party.

Spadework begins

I got down to the job in right earnest. I made aserious study of the manifesto and otherprogrammes of the DMK and the all-India AnnaDMK parties to help me draft the rules, regulationsand the constitution of the new party. This waskept a closely-guarded secret. To ensure this, Idictated the basic framework, philosophy and otheraspects to my wife to maintain the secrecy. Somewell-wishers like Ramamohana Rao, son of the lateKakani Venkataratnam, Adusumilli Visveswararao and ACY Reddy, chairman of the Rajahmundrymunicipality, cautioned me that I could not single-handedly manage the job and that I should enlist



some more people. Otherwise, they warned, Iwould meet the fate of those who had ventured inthe past and come to grief. I would standdiscredited. I might at best win some seats on myown steam, but never enough to form Government.

I recognised that people looked for a change,for a party that could fulfil their aspirations witha new philosophy and approach to problems. Iwasted no time. I started discussions withBezawada Papi Reddy, Inampudi Chakradharabout the nitty gritty of the venture. I gotencouragement from many people.

Enter NT Rama Rao

I was in my office when DaggubatiChenchuramaiah, my friend, called up to say 'mybrother-in-law will speak to you'. He explained itwas N. T. Rama Rao. They became relativesthrough 'kunda marpidi, a practice in which thebrother and sister in one family are in given inmarriage to those in the other. This was in 1982.'Brother', Rama Rao's voice filtered through, 'Youhave been wronged and humiliated by theCongress party. I have a shooting schedule nearyour house tomorrow. I will pay a courtesy call, ifit is all right with you'. I said 'welcome'. Weexchanged pleasantries and talked about this andthat. While he got up to depart, I told him 'I heardthat you are planning to join politics. I alsounderstand you are trying for the Rajya Sabhaseat. We are forming a regional party. You are



welcome to join us'. He hastily replied he wouldnot entertain such ideas until his sashtipoorthy.We knew that the seed for his entry into politicswas sown that day itself.

I knew little about N T Rama Rao other thanthat he was a prominent film actor known forportrayal of mythological roles. I had no personalacquaintance. We were on the same flight atTirupati when he came up to me and invited me tohis house in Madras for tea. I promised to make itsome other time. That was our first meeting.

On another occasion, as Agriculture MinisterI had camped in Annavaram guest house and waspreparing to leave when Rama Rao, accompaniedby my friend Ramakrishna of Kakinada, droppedin. The meeting was brief, as I was in a hurry.Producer Visveswara Rao, who was related toRama Rao, invited me to be the chief guest at the100th day celebration of a NTR-starrer. DirectorPullaiah and Tapi Dharma Rao were also seatedon the dias. I squirmed in the seat inembarrassment as Rama Rao fired broadsides atthe Chief Minister Channa Reddy. Looking at myplight, Tapi Dharma Rao quipped 'Bhaskar has alion's heart'. I hosted dinner to a select gatheringof cine artists, doctors, lawyers etc in connectionwith the 'sashtipoorthy' celebrations of ChannaReddy. Rama Rao and Nageswara Rao also turnedup. On account of a sudden downpour, we had tomove everything from the lawns into the house.



In that confusion, I could hardly notice Rama Rao.He had finished his dinner and left.

On March 23, 1982 (the day our party wasformed), he came from Madras and drove straightto my house. This time too, I did not have time toextend proper hospitality to him. Some newspaperstried to project me in bad light. They said that Iwent to Ooty and personally brought him toHyderabad to join the new party. This was unfairand sad. I had never pressured him to join ourparty. It was not necessary. We had alreadyfinalised the organisational structure, identifiedpeople and fixed responsibilities. Rama Rao arrivedat this juncture.

Rama Rao used to be in touch from Ooty orChennai despite hectic shooting schedules. Hewould enquire about how many MLAs were readyto join him and the cost of fighting the electionetc. Tired of answering the same questions everytime, I asked him why he needed to know all thedetails. He could instead join the party if he wasinterested.

Well-wishers and seniors like Papi Reddy,Chakradhar, Gadde Rattaiah, C. Narayana,Adeyya, Kakani Ramamohana Rao, AdusumilliVisveswara Rao, Jayaprakash, ACY Reddy wouldoften visit me as a gesture of solidarity. I mappedout everything on paper - party programmes,marking right men for right jobs in every region ofthe State, names of prospective secretaries with



addresses and assigning tasks to different partyworkers.

The first item was development of the State.Other subjects related to give and take betweenthe party and the ruling party at the Centre,unemployment problem, farmers issues. Weincorporated these items in the party plan afterconsulting all concerned. 'Success guaranteed', theelders blessed me. Like the elders cautioned before,doubts also started gnawing within about myability to manage single-handed. I was in a fix. Onthe one hand these doubts pulled me back and onthe other, the burning desire egged me on.

Rama Rao used to spend much of his free timein the studio. On his invitation I dropped in at hisplace. I heard his wife and children making hurtingcomments, within earshot, about my efforts to dragRama Rao into politics. I felt bad. I had neverinvited Rama Rao to enter politics. He visited meon his own. We were planning to launch regionalparty. True, knowing about his interest, we said,he could join our party. At that time he ruled itout until his sashtipoorthy. Now why this backchat?

We did not know why Rama Rao, who enjoyedimmense popularity and wealth as a leading filmactor, intended to join politics. He had suffered onaccount of income tax raids and at the hands ofcorrupt officials. He was denied accommodationin Government guest house because it was already



reserved for a minister. These experiences mighthave hurt his ego and drove him to politics or justthe lure of a position of power and authority. Eachdrew own inference for Rama Rao's motive to joinpolitics.

Rama Rao had scaled dizzy heights of stardom.Would it not have implications for others in thefield if he joined politics. I had in mind thepossibility of Akkineni Nageswara Rao, anothercine stalwart, contesting against him as theCongress candidate. I wanted Rama Rao to checkit out.

He offered to talk to Nageswara Rao overdinner the same night and invited me to join. Ideclined. 'Brother. Nageswara Rao has made itclear he has no plans. He advised me also not tojoin politics', he telephoned to me after the dinnermeeting. I Rung up saying 'Oh. well. If that is thecase, it is up to you'. I dropped the issue at that.

Muhurtham for the launch

We held many meetings about starting theparty. We asked a Godman from East Godavaridistrict to fix auspicious muhurtham. He fixed itat 2:15 p.m. of March 23, 1982 and assured us thatpeople would come in a surge at the mere tap ontheir door. On that day, an ad hoc committee wasformed with me as president. Rama Rao drovestraight from airport to my house for the meeting.He was accompanied by Chenchuramaiah. I learnt



later that Chenchuramaiah had tried to prejudiceRama Rao's mind against me. That was his nature.

In deference to Rama Rao's age - he was some15 years my senior, I offered my chair and tookanother next to it. My gesture did not go downwell with C. Narayana, Gadde Rattaiah, MLAs,and others. They came for the launch of a newparty, but not to see the leadership handed overto cinema stars, they burst out. It did not augurwell for the party. They minced no words inexpressing their disapproval. I reasoned with themthat Rama Rao was the topmost actor with a largefan following and fame. These could be gainfullyharnessed for the benefit of the party. Let us notobject, I appealed to them. They might haverelented, but were far from convinced. Rama Raotook me aside during the break. 'Brother. Howmuch cash do you have? How much do we need toput up 300 candidates? How do we raise the funds?'he asked me anxiously. I asked him not to worry.These things could wait.

The appointed hour arrived. We got women tolight the traditional lamp to mark commencementof the function and render the Telugu anthem 'Maa Telugu Thalliki Malle Poodanda'. Rama Raoand others arrived. Finding the room too small toaccommodate the large number of people, wemoved to the lawns of the MLA quarters. Themeeting was rounded off with 'Cheyyetthi JaikottuTelugoda - gathamentho ghanakeerthi galavoda'.MLAs present in the hostel watched the



proceedings spell bound from their rooms. ACYReddy, municipal chairman, Vasantha NageswaraRao, T. Jeevan Reddy, samiti presidents, IrigineniTirupati Naidu had already issued statementsintending to join. So did AnnabathuniSatyanarayana, chairman of Tenali municipality.We kept some names ready for christening the newparty.

I asked Rama Rao as an elder, to indicate aname for the party. 'Ours is Telugu Desam (landof the Telugus). Let us name it Telugu Desam', hesaid casually. Some people laughed derisively. 'Youdo not seem to be capable of even selecting a name.You seem to think a regional party is like a cinema',they taunted us. I ignored it and announced thatRama Rao would be the president of the party.Kommareddy Suryanarayana, MP from Eluru,wondered how could puppeteers start a party. Youare all a bunch of incompetent and inexperiencednobodies. You do not even know what name to giveto your party. Do you have the guts and thestrength to take on the Congress party', he askedsarcastically. The same day, a newspaper tycoontelephoned to me and desired to speak to RamaRao. He sent S. N. Sastry, senior journalist, to myhouse for that purpose.

I explained to Rama Rao how important it wasto cultivate the press for its continued support. Ithen gave the phone to him. Some journalistfriends advised me against having Rama Rao asthe party president. I brushed aside their



objections, keeping in view the party's winningprospects and the need for a radically newcampaign style capable of winning the hearts ofthe masses. As for myself, I had earned name andmoney as lawyer. I owned three plots in JubileeHills and built two houses. I had enough resourcesfor my activities. We were on the look-out for officespace in the centrally located Indira Park area.Rama Rao offered to house the party in his studiocomplex since he faced security problemselsewhere. I said 'yes'.

Designing the Party flag

We had planned to bring out a bookletcontaining the ideals and the philosophy of theparty. How should the party flag be like? RamaRao, who was present along with leaders, favouredthe auspicious yellow. It should also feature thehut, the plough and the wheel to identify with thefarmer and the industrial worker. We and ourfollowers dedicated ourselves to the task before us.

The party office was located in the studioswhere a furnished room was arranged for meexclusively. Rama Rao's office was next to mine.He would meet visitors and fans and fulfill shootingcommitments during the breaks. Having the officein the NTR studios had its own disadvantage. Theparty invited ridicule for identifying itself withcinema folks. Nevertheless, we decided to continuethe office there.


Bhaskar Rao flanked with Indira Gandhi when shevisited Divi Seema which was devastated by the

cyclone in 1977

Bhaskar Rao receiving Indira Gandhi at theVijayawada Canal Guest house in 1978

Bhaskar Rao representing Khammam Constituency asParliament Member, with Sonia Gandhi along with other

MPs from Andhra Pradesh in 1998

Former Chief Minister Sri Nadendla Bhaskar Rao inConversation with AICC-I Chairman, Former Prime

Minister Sri Rajiv Gandhi, during his transit visit fromMadras to Delhi, at Begumpet Airport

Bhaskar Rao & Bullipantulu (Gopala Krishnaiah,MLC) with Sanjay Gandhi in Chennai, in 1979

Bhaskar Rao with Chief Minister Dr.M.ChennaReddy as a Cabinet Minister

Bhaskar Rao addressing the meeting of ICR in 1979.Seated next is Prof. N.G. Ranga, M.P.

Bhaskar Rao with Rama Rao during the publicmeeting at New MLA quarters On March 29, 1982.

Bhaskar Rao with Rama Rao during the publicmeeting at Nizam College grounds, April, 1982

Governor Sharada Mukharji adminstering the oath ofsecrecy to Bhaskar Rao as Law & Legislative Affairs

Minister, for the first time, in the Cabinet of Dr.ChennaReddy on 10th March 1978

Governor K.C. Abraham, adminestering the oath of secrecyto Bhaskar Rao as Agriculture Minister in the Cabinet of

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Anjaiah in 1981

Governor Ramlal, administering the oath of secrecyto Bhasker Rao as the Chief Minister of Andhra

Pradesh on 16 August 1984

Andhra Pradesh Governor Ramlal, Chief MinisterNadendla Bhaskar Rao & Mukassir Shah

Bhaskar Rao with Gandhiji’s grand daughter TaraGandhi Bhattacharya

Akkineni Nageswara Rao & Bhaskar Rao withGandhiji’s grand daughter Kulkarni

Bhaskar Rao with Netaji Subhash Chandrabose’sdaughter Anita Plaf (At New Residence ‘Sarva

Dharma Nilayam’)


Whatever the detractors might say, peopleenthusiastically extended full support to all ourprogrammes and turned up in thousands. Weannounced that the party flag would be unveiledby Rama Rao at a public meeting at the NizamCollege grounds on April 11. Lakhs of peoplegathered at the venue when I and Rama Raoarrived in a huge rally through the main streetsof the city. The gist of our speech was that a newera had dawned in the history of the Telugu peopleand that no force on the earth had the power tostop the juggernaut.

Rama Rao labeled the meeting 'Mahanaadu'after the linguistic practices and traditionsprevalent in Tamil Nadu where he had spent muchof his life. I once asked Telugu scholar DiwakarlaVenkatavadhani the meaning of Mahanaadu.'There is no specific meaning. Such expressions arecatchy. The Tamils use them. You too can adopt.There is no harm', he replied. The party executivewas on the dias - T.N. Sadalaxmi, G. Rattaiah, C.Narayana, V. Tulasiram, Aditya, Bezawada PapiReddy and I. We conducted workers meeting andadopted resolutions, apart from conducting thegrand public meeting at the same venue.

Putchalapally Sundarayya had earlier chargedus with polluting politics. He questioned the needfor a new party. These questions were answeredin our speeches at the Nizam College meeting. Wespelt out the reasons for starting a regional party,



our campaign to oust the inept and incompetentGovernment and our plans to transform the State.We promised to invigorate the sluggishadministration with the induction of new blood byinvolving the educated, the youth and the experts.

I was the first speaker in all our meetings.Rama Rao, who had no political background, wouldpick up points from my speech and elaborate themin his own style. People appeared convinced 'hereis new blood. They can deliver the goods'. Theylavished their love and support on us even moregenerously. Of course, jealous people who couldnot digest our popularity spat venom, continuingwith the refrain 'this is a cinema peoples party' toplease their leader Indira Gandhi.

Restoring the Telugu pride

We did not float the party just to spite anotherparty. It was motivated by a genuine desire to offersomething new to the people and to develop theState. People from the South were disdainfullyreferred to in New Delhi as 'Madrasis'. We shoulderase this false and deprecating impression fromtheir minds. The Telugus should develop a distinctidentity and recognition of their own and makeeveryone in Delhi and across the country knowtheir greatness. We planned to have Telugumilestones all along the highway to Delhi and alsoto conduct the affairs of the Government in themother tongue of the people. This was the gist ofour fiery speeches and the people cheered us wildly.



The second Mahanaadu was held in Tirupatiin the blistering summer heat of May, a monthafter the Hyderabad Mahanaadu. We left the jobin charge of Veeraraghavulu Naidu of Tirupati.We flew down from Hyderabad to address workersmeeting where a large gathering was present tojoin the party. We were told that pickpocketersfrom Chennai would come whenever big publicmeetings were held in the temple town. Theydemonstrated their sleight of hand and relievedus of our purses.

We were taken round the town in an open jeepbefore reaching the venue. Minutes before thestart, Harikrishna and Veeraraghavulu Naiducreated a disgusting ruckus insisting that RamaRao should speak first instead of me. Contrary totheir expectation, Rama Rao cut a sorry figure notknowing what to speak. On earlier occasions Ispoke first and he culled some points from myspeech and developed on them in his characteristicstyle. Those who did not know of his handicap, feltit would be an affront to Rama Rao if he were tospeak after Bhaskara Rao. They felt disappointedwhen Rama Rao's speech lacked substance andspirit.

That being Rama Rao's birthday, we haddarshan of Sri Venkateswaraswami at Tirumalaand proceeded to Chennai for overnight stay athis house. His son Balakrishna saw us off at theairport the following morning. Back in Hyderabad,



we settled down to serious party work. Believingthat the elections might not come in the nearfuture, Rama Rao would snatch some time off tofulfill pending film commitments.

I would stay most of the time in the officedevoting all my time for strengthening the partyand meeting functionaries. We planned to hold ameeting in Nizamabad, the first such in a districtcentre. We picked a couple of dynamic youngstersto be in charge of party programmes - MahipalReddy and Papeswara Rao for Nizamabad,Veerarghavulu Naidu for Chittoor, Seethaiah forGuntur and V. Rambhupal Choudary for Kurnool.It was not easy for party in-charges to raise fundsfor holding meetings. We had to choose financiallysound people for the job. The party cadre gave usa rousing reception in Nizamabad. We were takenthrough the main thoroughfares in an open jeep.Our daily schedule included workers' meeting inthe morning and a public meeting in the evening.People thronged our meetings in large numberswherever we held them.

On a trip to Kurnool, the party in-chargeRambhupal Reddy and others put up large cut-outs, arches and welcome hoardings for us. B. V.Mohan Reddy, local leader, complained to RamaRao about certain cut-outs featuring meprominently. Then on, he had continuously createda rift between me and Rama Rao. Cinema peoplemight be enamoured of the cut-outs and banners,but they held little fascination for me. By lending Birth of the Regional party


an ear to Mohan Reddy's complaints, Rama Raohad caused further widening of the differences. S.Ramamuni Reddy organised a meeting inCuddapah which again was a huge success. Thusour meetings drew unprecedented crowdseverywhere.

An estimated six to seven lakh people hadattended our Guntur meeting. This unnerved theopposition leaders like Putchalapally Sundarayyawho continued to dub the regional outfit as 'dramaparty' and 'cinema party'. Deep in their hearts, theywere much worried about the catastrophicconsequences of the popular surge on them andtheir parties.

Chandrababu's vain boast

Nara Chandrababu Naidu was a Minister ofState in the Congress Government. Since he wasson-in-law of Rama Rao, he was worried that hisloyalty to the Congress might be suspect.Presumably to prove his loyalty, he said he wouldcontest against Rama Rao if the party asked himto. This was how he tried to fool the public.

Although I did not share the view that ourparty lacked the cadre to convert the immensepopular goodwill into votes, I nevertheless believedthat it was necessary to bring together otheropposition parties to avoid split of the non-Congress votes. Convinced by my argument, RamaRao invited Sundarayya, P. Babul Reddy,



Nallamala Giriprasad and other leaders for dinnerto discuss the issue. They appeared lukewarm tothe idea and even looked at it with some suspicion.

We carried the exercise further by visitingSundarayya and holding another round of talkswith other leaders. In the event of an alliance, theCPI demanded 120 seats and the CPM 55. Did weslog day and night to reach people in the mostremote villages only to hand over seats to theseparties on a platter? We came back asking themto think it over.

Well-wishers like Tatineni Prakasa Rao andABK Prasad intervened and held talks withSundarayya and others. Our understanding wasthat they demanded 55 seats, but they did not seemto soften a bit. Against this distressing background,the newspaper magnate, himself a communistparty card-holder at one time, stepped in to foilthe game. He saw to it that the Telugu Desam didnot reach an understanding with the communists.I had thought as a compromise we could offer them45 seats, but that was not to be because the mediabusinessman threw the spanner in the works.

Mistake Regretted

On account of my close ties with NeelamRajasekhara Reddy and Chandra Rajeswara Rao,I gave a brief idea to them about the developments.The senior communist leaders made it clear thatState-level issues were handled by the State



leaders only and that the central leadership didnot interfere. It was another thing that soon theyrealised the mistake and regretted it. It was clearto us that certain media tried to harness theunprecedented turn-out and popular response tothe Telugu Desam to further their businessinterests by giving full coverage.

The newspaper magnate invited me and RamaRao for tea. I did not know the motive. We chattedfor a while. The newspaper owner had at one timebeen very close to me. He brought me a gift fromGermany and recalled how he remembered meduring his trip abroad. 'How many times had Iwished to see you as the Chief Minister', he toldme.

Rama Rao utterly lacked political experience.He had no idea of caste and communal groupingsobtaining in the State. By offering sound adviceon selection of candidates, the media baron soughtto get a firm hold on Rama Rao and thereby run a'shadow government'. He did not at all like mycontrol over the party. He, therefore, poisoned hismind against me by carrying tales and makingallegations. He sought to benefit from Rama Rao'slack of political experience. None might object tothis, but it would certainly be a serious matter ifhis agenda were to derail the party's lofty idealsand objectives. I was more experienced and hadearlier been a Minister. They thought they couldget firmer grip on Rama Rao and the party if they



got me - a thorn in their flesh - out of their way.They sowed seeds of poison and stoked the embersto create a raging fire to separate us.

That day, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who laterbecame the Prime Minister, was guest at thenewspaper owner's house. We were also invited tojoin. I advised Rama Rao against attending theparty since the BJP was often seen as a communalparty. I told him 'if we go to the party, it will createmisgivings among the Muslim brethren whoconstitute 9 per cent of the population in Telanganaand 4 per cent in Andhra. We cannot afford to bedistanced by them'. Heeding my advice, Rama Raoinformed the host about his inability to attend. Thisangered the media baron.

Briefing the Minorities

We attended a gathering of Muslim leaders,spiritual heads and others at the residence ofSiddique, an architect. Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi,Mohammed Ibrahim Bin Masqati, Siddique andothers were present when we spelt out our partyphilosophy, our commitment to secularism andrespect to all faiths. I answered their queries.Impressed by my articulation, Rama Rao said'Brother, we have done the right thing by notattending the newspaper man's party'.

From then on, the newspaper man developedenmity with me. I did not know why. There couldbe one reason. Chief Minister Channa Reddy was



offended when the newspaper magnate invited theGovernor, Sharada Mukherjee, to inaugurate hiseenadu office in Vijayawada. Channa Reddy hadheard about allegations against the chit fundcompany and asked me to find out. Strictly, thesubject did not fall in my purview. But I asked theHome Secretary to ascertain the facts and report.I gave the feedback to the Chief Minister. TheHome Secretary might have told the newspaperman that he acted under instructions from me. Butnone ever knew that it was the Chief Minister atwhose instance I initiated the action. In fact, noaction was taken against the company. Since thechit fund company was under the samemanagement as the newspaper, the owner mighthave borne grudge against me. I could not see anyother provocation.

He started a campaign to malign me bycarrying stories satirising my actions, creatingmisgivings among the public and leveling falseallegations. Rama Rao and I were touring togetherand addressing meetings. He plotted to separateus. I could not stand it any longer. Should I watchhelplessly in the face of unrelenting mud-slinging?Was it fair to mislead the people just to spite us?Be that as it may.

We continued our joint tours. Rama Raoattended to shooting schedules whenever timepermitted while I was totally confined to partywork. On account of his pre-occupation with the



cinema industry, he had neither the time nor theinclination to read books or newspapers. As he hadlittle time to follow political developments andother goings-on in the country and outside, hewould depend on me for inputs.

The first phase of our publicity was not onlysuccessful, but rewarding in that it enabled us tomove closer to the people, understand theirproblems, their joys and sufferings and to createan awakening among them. We were about tobegin the second phase when jealous elements andvested interests like the newspaper magnateargued that instead of undertaking joint tours, weshould travel separately, that is, if one of uscampaigned in coastal areas, the other should focuson Telangana. The motive to divide us was obvious.They made Rama Rao believe that separate tourswould benefit the party. The villain of the piecewas a stranger from New Delhi who won RamaRao's confidence and tendered advice from time totime. He had deftly played the roles ofMahabharatha characters, Salya and Sakuni, inbreaking our unity. After he had lost power in 1995,Rama Rao had said the newspaper man hadintentionally ruined him by the misleading advice.He confessed that he had made a big mistake byheeding to the advice and thereby wrongedBhaskara Rao.

Enter the Delhi Stranger

Rama Rao decided to refurbish an old van and



tour Andhra region. He named it 'ChaitanyaRatham'. One day Kotha Raghuramaiah's nephewcame to me, accompanied by the stranger,requesting that he be admitted into the party. Idirected them to meet the party president. RamaRao tried to dissuade them saying that he andBhaskara Rao were tirelessly touring the villageswithout knowing what was in store. Why shouldhe take the risk? The stranger was not the one togive up. Rama Rao could not say 'no' when hereappeared at the second leg of the tour. For mypart, I was touring the Telangana region, eatingfrom my tiffin box, interacting with farmers,leaders of caste groups and others on the fields, intheir homes and on the roadside. I tried tounderstand their problems and answer theirquestions. During our joint tours, it was not easyto get accommodation in guest houses. Sometimeswe got it as I was a former minister.

We were on a tour of Adilabad and Karimnagardistricts. It was suggested that we could save a lotof time if we swam across the Godavari instead ofgoing by road. At one stage, we found the waterstoo deep. The anxious party workers literally boreus to the other side, reflecting their great affectionfor us and the resentment against the Governmentof the day. Lakhs of people were waiting to hearus. We returned to Hyderabad by train afteraddressing the meeting.

Elections were round the corner. There waslittle time. Vested interests again got busy trying



to create a rift between us. I was concentrating onparty work while Rama Rao divided time betweenparty work and unfinished films. At the same hekept himself abreast of all developments.

In the course of our tours, we decided to havelunch in harijanwadas, instead of in the guesthouses, understand their living conditions andstrive to mitigate their hardship. The idea was tobecome one with them. We were greatlyencouraged by the fact that the general public, thewomen in particular, helped us to make partymeetings a roaring success.

I was then 14 years younger to Rama Rao.Party workers were unable to catch up with mybrisk pace in the padayatras and followed me inscooters and cars. This agility flowed from mypassion to meet everyone and visit everyplace.

One day Chandrababu Naidu came rushing tothe Chief Minister Bhavanam Venkatram and saidanxiously ' Rama Rao and Bhaskara Rao appearlike sounding our death knell. We should dosomething drastic to save the party. Otherwise,we will be finished'. Bhavanam Venkatram relatedthis incident to me later.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



Telugu Desam landslide

I toured extensively in Telangana and coastaldistricts to explain the need for the regional partyand its programmes. I was on a padayatra inPedanandipadu village of Guntur district whengeneral elections to the Assembly in January 1983were announced.

N.T. Rama Rao, who was touring in anotherpart of the State, asked me to rush to Hyderabad.I was in Narasaraopet when my friend Innaiahrecommended Dr. Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, adynamic young man, for Narasaraopet seat. Hewas initially reluctant, but relented uponpersuasion by friends and well-wishers. I includedhim in the list of probable candidates.

I noted down the names of a number of selfless,committed, educated young men and women withgood background during my interactions. RamaRao did the same exercise in his tours. Included inthe list were the names of people we interactedwith or were suggested by the locals, friends andwell-wishers.

The newspaper baron, who aspired to have asay in the matter, also came up with his own listusing his resources and the network ofcorrespondents for the purpose. He never lost an

chapter 7


opportunity to influence Rama Rao to favour hislist.

The selection of candidates was just a two-manaffair done in utmost secrecy. I and Rama Rao satdown in a room with the lists. We rose abovepersonal considerations, the sole motive being toensure success in the election. 'Brother. There isnothing like your candidates or mine. All are ourpeople'. This was the spirit in which the processwas conducted. The election notification was issuedand the dates were announced. We got down toselecting the candidates as soon as we returnedfrom the tours.

Politically naive

Rama Rao thought whoever sat in the left werethe leftists and those sitting in the right were therightists. That was the level of his politicalunderstanding and knowledge. There was no needto know, because he was totally involved withcinema and construction activities. Our objectivesand ideals being the same, we decided to selecteducated people to contest the elections.

Prathibha Bharati, a young dynamic womanand daughter of a high court judge, joined me inthe padayatra in Srikakulam district and endearedherself to the people by her camaraderie. I notedher name in the diary for a reserved seat. RamaRao felt that it was necessary to consult her fatherbefore finalising her name. When I sounded her



father, who I knew well, he was not enthusiastic.They did not have the resources to fight theelections. I talked him round to finally agreeing. Ialso informed him that Prathibha Bharathi wasthe first candidate to be selected as we thought itauspicious to begin the exercise with a woman.Thus, we finalised the list in four days. We madea few changes based on the inputs provided by thedistrict convenors and coordinators.

At this juncture, Maneka Gandhi , who floatedSanjay Vichar Manch, flew down from Delhi anddesired to have seat arrangement with us. I knewSanjay Gandhi well, but not her. When a womanleader offered to join the campaign, we could notsay 'no'. She asked for 10 seats, but settled for five.Maneka and I addressed a meeting in Tuni. LatchuDora, a popular local leader, was to be ourcandidate for the seat. Instead, he recommendedYanamala Ramakrushnudu, a young advocaterepresenting the dominant Yadava community. Wefinalised his name, as also of Raja Kannababu, whowas with the party from its inception. Likewise,Rama Rao also spotted the probables during histours. The selection process went on without ahitch. We decided to accommodate the newspapermagnate where his candidates stood a brightchance of winning.

NTR had cold feet

Our new party was handicapped by lack ofresources and material required for the campaign.



We knew we did not have the where with all tomatch our powerful rivals in terms of men,material and most important, money. Unnerved,perhaps by these challenges, Rama Rao developedcold feet and told party treasurer, TatineniPrakasa Rao he would quit. 'I can't manage. It is aheadache. I do not know politics. I made a mistake.I am going. You shoulder the burden', he said in amood of utter frustration and pessimism. PrakasaRao informed me about this. I immediately raisedrupees four lakhs and deposited it in the party fundto create confidence in the rank and file and torestore Rama Rao disturbed mind. Some partyseniors succeeded in restraining Rama Rao fromleaving the field. How would outsiders know allthis?

Funds started flowing in. Gudavalli SeshagiriRao contributed Rs 5000 before the selection ofcandidates was taken up. Another man donated apiece of land in Gandipet. Neither of us allowedthese internal issues of the party to become public.For some people, money and business areeverything. Not for me or for Rama Rao. Then whois this man who habitually poked his nose in ouraffairs? I could see this newspaper man's anxietyto reach out to Rama Rao over my head and servehis interests. He had supplied badges and bannersfor the party. To be fair to him, despite his businessobsession, his daily gave considerable publicity toour party.



As we completed the selection process and weregetting ready for the campaign, Rama Rao droppedanother bombshell. He wanted to back out fromcontesting the elections. The desire to become theChief Minister was strong in him, but he wasdiffident about his own prospects in the elections.What if he lost? His image would be dented beyondrepair. These fears plagued him. They were,however, not wholly unfounded. Some elderlysympathisers of the party made cynicalpredictions. Daggubati Chenchuramaiah himselfrefused to contest the elections as he did not givethe party a ghost of a chance. These might haveprompted a demoralised Rama Rao to say 'Brother,count me out. Some friends are saying I can getelected (in a by-election) after the party comes topower'. He was not confident that the party couldride to power. He was also worried about the lossof face and prestige if he were to lose. These fearshaunted him.

As for me, I had no option to contesting, win orlose. It was a do or die situation. I had been aMinister and had left the Congress party unableto stand Anjaiah's style of functioning. I hadnowhere to go. I must sail with the party I started.It was different with Rama Rao. He had thesupport of the film industry and a large base offans. Win or lose, he would remain afloat. Whatabout me?

I told Rama Rao that it was not proper to back



out at this stage after we turned over the reins tohim to lead the party. It would also send wrongsignals to the public if the party leader himselfdid not contest. It would do the party no good. Ialso told him his thinking was flawed.

Encashing NTR charisma

I wanted N.T. Rama Rao to become presidentof the party because his cine glamour would benefitthe party, as it ultimately did. Otherwise, it wouldbe impossible for a political green horn like him towin. Of course, these days money can makeanything happen. The Telugu people are great filmbuffs who take for real the fights, dialogues andother scenes on the screen and react accordingly.They were mesmerised by NT Rama Rao's acting,personality and dialogue delivery. Many fans, whowent to Tirupati, would proceed to Chennai for aglimpse of their matinee idol. Rama Raocommanded even devotion because of hisidentification with the mythological characters.

People who were not fortunate enough to go toChennai had their desire fulfilled now. They wereable to see their idol in flesh and blood right intheir midst, thanks to his tour across the lengthand breadth of the State. Topping it all was theirseething anger against the Congress highcommand and the manner in which it changed thechief ministers in the State. Impressed by RamaRao's hard-hitting speeches, they carried the



Telugu Desam to a landslide victory in theelections. Another interesting aspect of theelections was that workers and sympathisers ofthe Congress and all other parties voted for theTelugu Desam. An analysis of the voting patternswould make this clear.

What would have been the scenario had RamaRao not been in the picture? People were alreadyfed up with the Congress. I could emphatically saythat if not victory, the Telugu Desam would at leasthave emerged as a powerful opposition in theLegislature. The defeated candidates might havelost with wafer-thin margin. The popular mood wassuch at the time. Fielding our candidates in allthe constituencies was the key to my poll strategy.

We floated the Telugu Desam with the loftyideal of the Telugu people transcending sub-regional barriers to come under the unifiedumbrella of Andhra Pradesh. We thought NTRama Rao alone could achieve this as his fans werespread over the entire State. This was the reasonwe wanted him to contest from each of the threeregions of the State. My sole intention was topreserve the integrity of the State and to let theDelhi rulers know the identity, the greatness andthe self-pride of the Telugus. I encouraged RamaRao to contest from the three regions in view ofthe wide-spread star image and fan following. Heagreed to file nomination from Nalgonda inTelangana and Tirupati in Rayalaseema regions,



but oddly enough, was dead set against contestingfrom his own native Gudivada in the coastal region.Adusumilli Visveswara Rao, I and some others putmaximum pressure on him to change his mind,saying it was a grave mistake to shy away. At last,he agreed and I personally ensured that he filedthe nomination for the Gudivada seat.

As planned, I filed nomination from my ownconstituency, Vemuru, in Guntur district.

People, our strength

Our only strength was the people. Theysupported us whole-heartedly. It did not matterthat we did not have enough resources. They didnot just wish our victory, but strove hard to ensureit. That was the kind of mass awakening our partyhad generated. Added to this was their growingdisenchantment with the ways of the Congressparty and its Government. They were convincedthat only a regional party could reflect, articulateand fulfill their aspirations. Generous donationsto the party were used to help the financially-weakcandidates while not even a paisa was given tothose who were better placed.

I and Rama Rao hit the campaign trail. Joinedby Maneka Gandhi, I started the campaign inSrikakulam district while he travelled in hisChaitanya Ratham in another part of the State. Itold Brahmananda Reddy we were sure to bag 200seats and asked him what he, as a senior politician,



thought about it. 'You are trying to pull a mountainwith a strand of hair. If it comes, well and good.Otherwise, all you lose is the strand of hair', hesaid in a contemptuous tone.

Spotles selection

By choosing the educated and the professionalslike doctors, lawyers and engineers as ourcandidates, we not only attracted the people to ourside but left nothing for the rivals to criticise ournominees, all new to politics and with spotlesscharacter. We did not want to confine ourselves toour respective constituencies. Leaving KommineniSeethaiah to look after my campaign in Vemuru, Iand Rama Rao separately and extensivelycampaigned for the party candidates. We could notrope in the communists, however much we wishedto. Ours was a new party and theirs an establishedone. Ego stood in the way of an understandingbetween the two. Our only ally was the SanjayVichar Manch. We worked together without ahitch.

We were greatly benefitted by Rama Rao's cineglamour, body language, style and delivery ofspeech that cast a spell on people and stirred theirconsciousness. People virtually rained votes on us.The magnitude of the mandate was such thatNarayana Goud, our victorious candidate fromHimayatnagar, died immediately after hearing thehappy news. He could not bear the joy. I had just



returned after winning from Vemuru. We bothconsoled the bereaved family. This done, we gotdown to the task on hand - Cabinet formation.

Several people tried to capitalise on RamaRao's lack of knowledge of political affairs to gaina hold on the party. He was not comfortable havingto deal with an experienced politician like me. Itwas easier for these people to drive the wedgebetween us. Rama Rao was already besieged bysuggestions and advice, mostly bad advice, fromdifferent quarters. He was a confused man. Theyspared no opportunity to prejudice his mindagainst me. Never was a well-meaning adviceoffered.

Weaknesses and foiblesRama Rao was no angel. He too suffered from

human weaknesses and foibles. He fell into theirtrap. As a result……………….

Some people recommended inclusion of anti-Bhaskara Rao MLAs in the Cabinet while someothers even prepared a list with names of MLAs.He kept the list with him. He let the cat out of thebag, unwittingly, during our discussion on theCabinet formation. Everyone waited anxiouslywhile we finalised the list. The Delhi Stranger anda few others tried to make a case for their inclusion,but we responded with a firm 'no' at the very outset.He warned Rama Rao that the newly-elected MLAswould be loyal to me and therefore, he should



protect his flock from poaching. They succeededin projecting me as a villain, while convenientlywhite-washing my positive side.

A combination of factors - my efforts to startthe regional party, support of my MLAs and MPs,NTR's charisma, selection of candidates - led to alandslide victory for the regional party. Even so,my detractors were not impressed. LikeTweedledum and Tweedledee, they acted intandem to create misunderstanding between meand Rama Rao. Their idea was to fulfil their agendathrough Rama Rao and towards this end, theyworked night and day.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



Regional party in the saddle

It was an unforgettable chapter in the annalsof the State's history. People looked forward to itwith great expectations. It was the first meetingof the legislature party held in the Jubilee Hall inHyderabad on January 7, 1983. I proposed that N.T. Rama Rao be the leader of the legislature partywhile P. Mahendranath seconded it. The electionwas unanimous.

The party did not have a secretary or a generalsecretary or even an executive committee. Theworking committee was disbanded. NT Rama Raowas everything. He was the supremo. Even so, wehad worked together. We urgently needed asecretary to present the legislature partyresolution to the Governor and to request him toinvite Rama Rao to form the new Government. Ipenned the letter, signing it as secretary, andpresented it to the Governor, K. C. Abraham.

The following day, Rama Rao and I weretogether, just two of us. He had by then developedsome notions about me. He had already with himthe names of the Cabinet aspirants antagonisticto me. Need we say that the names were sponsoredby none other than the newspaper management.

chapter 8


The newspaper magnate had advised RamaRao not to take me into the Cabinet. He couldinstead consider me for the Speaker's post. I hadalready sensed that something was brewing. Imaintained a dignified silence. This was notanyway the right moment to make an issue.

"Brother. How should we go about it', RamaRao asked me as we sat down for the exercise. Ispelt out the general principles governing theMinistry-making and said it was entirely up to himto choose the Ministers. Elaborating the do anddon'ts, I said the Cabinet strength should be small,not exceeding 12 or 14 Ministers. Since both of usbelonged to the same caste and he was the ChiefMinister, it was not necessary to have anotherperson of the same caste. I suggested that he couldinduct two Reddys each from Telangana andAndhra region, a Brahmin, a Harijan, a tribal, abackward classes candidate and a woman member.I also said a Muslim from Andhra region shouldbe taken because hitherto Muslim ministers hadall been from Hyderabad only.

Ministry-making exercise

After noting down the points, he said 'Brother.It all looks perplexing. You name them. I have noobjection. I will take anyone you recommend'. Hestruck off the list with him and entered in his diarythe names I indicated. When the name ofNallapuReddy Sreenivasul Reddy came up, i said

Regional part in the saddle


we should consider Bezawada Papi Reddy as hewas one of the founding spirits of the party. Weopted for Sreenivasul Reddy in view of hislegislative experience, lack of which proved ahandicap for Papi Reddy. We pickedP.Mahendranath as he represented the dominantHarijan group in Telangana.

In this context, I asked Rama Rao not to forceme to join as I had thrice been a Minister. 'Yourun the Government, I will render advice wheneverneeded', I said in all seriousness since I regardedthe party as more important than a Minister's post.'What?', he burst out, ' the Cabinet without you. Icannot imagine it. No. I will not be Chief Minister.How can I handle the Assembly? How do I knowthe rules and procedures of the Legislature? I donot even know how to answer questions. You haveguided the party this far. Now what will be myfate if you back off '. He sounded pitiable.

Perhaps the Delhi Stranger might have seteyes on my Cabinet seat. Rama Rao refused to besworn if I did not join. 'I can't handle this. Takeany portfolio, I have no objection. Take all theportfolios', he said in some disgust. He took meinto the Cabinet in spite of my protests that I washappy that I had accomplished my mission and Iwished for nothing more. My name figured next tohis in order. I chose the non-controversial Financeportfolio, but he tagged Electricity, CommercialTaxes and wondered if I could do also withRevenue. I declined.Regional part in the saddle


As we were discussing the matter, the EvilGang descended. One of them emphasised the needfor a trustworthy man in the Cabinet who couldhandle files and assist him. He even named theman for that slot. Rama Rao told me about this. Ireminded him that our party had consistentlyopposed the policy of inducting non-legislators intothe Ministry. We would become a laughing stockif we, as the party in power, repeated the mistake.If he was keen on accommodating him, he couldbe fitted in some other capacity. He saw the point.Rama Rao did not indicate who he had in mind forthe Cabinet berth, I guessed it could be the DelhiStranger. I made it clear to Rama Rao that thestrength of the Ministry should not exceed 15. Thesmall Rajagopalachari Cabinet should be the idealand not the discredited Jumbo Cabinet of Anjaiah.Rama Rao put so much of pressure on me that Ihad no choice but to accept. I finalised the Cabinetformation single-handed. We had to keep out someaspirants, even though they were very close to me,in order to adhere to the guidelines.

Top Secret List

Rama Rao noted down the 14 names. Wedecided that the list should remain confidentialexcept for the would-be Ministers. We personallyhanded the list of Ministers to the Governor. Ireturned home after advising Rama Rao to talk tothem in person. We finalised the portfolios betweenourselves and submitted it to the Governor. We



did not allow the Ministers to participate in theexercise, nor had anyone demanded a particularsubject. It was a great moment when a new partywedded to the aspirations of the people andcommitted to the development of the Stateassumed power after defeating a deeplyentrenched party of 100 years. None clamouredfor this portfolio or that. There was no need too.

We gave the list of Ministers to a police officerwith instructions to bring them to Rama Rao'shouse. The Ministers themselves were not awaretill that moment. Nobody knew who was going tobe in. The would-be ministers were advised toconduct themselves in tune with their new statusand position.

The Chief Secretary called on us at Rama Rao'sstudios to know about the timing of the swearing-in ceremony. Rama Rao asked him to makearrangements for the ceremony at the FatehMaidan (Lal Bahadur) stadium on January 9, 1983.The Governor would be invited there to administerthe oath of office and secrecy to the new ChiefMinister and other Ministers. Earlier ceremonieswere held in the Raj Bhavan, but this time it wasdone with fanfare in the midst of the people. Policeofficers were seen enquiring about the names andportfolios of the new Ministers. They too werecurious to know. I mention this to give an idea ofhow closely the whole exercise was kept secret.

Some people attempted to analyse the factors



for the phenomenal success achieved by theregional party in such a short time. The Congressparty had constantly supported and patronised adominant caste group to the detriment of anotherequally dominant group in the State. The weakersections also felt neglected. This feeling took deeproots in these neglected sections and they venttheir anger with a massive mandate for the newparty.

People who had sided with the Congress tillthen had to switch loyalties to the newdispensation. I had resigned membership of theAssembly before starting the new party, as I waselected on the Congress ticket. Such a step wasuncommon those days. It could possibly have beenthe first time in the country. I dared to float theregional party and take on the combined might ofthe State and the Central Governments.

At the helm for the first time

For the first time, a regional party, translatingthe hopes and aspirations of the people, had cometo power. The new Government took office at thecolourful swearing-in ceremony in front of thepeople. Akkineni Nageswara Rao, another idol ofcine-goers, and Rama Rao's son-in-law, NaraChandrababu Naidu, were seated on the first row.Naidu had till then been a Congress Minister. Anameless fear and anxiety gripped me. Was it apremonition of bad times to come?



Even though he was a Minister in the CongressGovernment, Chandrababu Naidu had wielded hisclout as Rama Rao's son-in-law to get the TeluguDesam ticket for some of his followers in Chittoordistrict. Veeraraghavulu Naidu, district convenor,was heart-broken when the party side-lined himand gave the ticket to his wife. It was a ploy todeny Veeraghavulu Naidu a place in the Cabinetshould he win. Chandrababu Naidu also thoughtit was easier to defeat a woman candidate. Even ifshe had won, it would not be difficult to foil herchances of joining the Cabinet.

Chandrababu also ensured that the regionalparty put up Venkatarama Naidu, a weakcandidate against him. What a cleverunderstanding between the father-in-law and theson-in-law! The regional party was started to oustthe Congress from power. Now none other thanthe president of this party chose to field a weakcandidate to facilitate his son-in-law's victory. Doesit not prove that blood is thicker than water?Mahabharatha, which is known as PanchamaVeda, is full of such episodes of favouritisminvolving Bheeshma, Dronacharya, Aswaththamaand others. Does it behove Rama Rao who quotedlofty scriptures in his films? I have no words todecry this. Chandrababu was anyway known forskull-duggery since his college days.

Venkatrama Naidu, considered a weakling,dealt a crushing blow to Chandrababu Naidu,



leaving him to lick the wounds. VenkatramaNaidu, like other candidates, rode on the crest ofa popular wave. People blessed our candidateseverywhere. Chandrababu Naidu used his positionas NTR's son-in-law to interfere in the selection ofour candidates. He should have known that ridingtwo horses was no easy job.

Chandrababu's defeat could be attributed tothe untiring efforts of the Telugu Desam cadrewhich mobilised the people against him. Insteadof complimenting the party workers for theirsplendid work, Rama Rao distanced them allholding them responsible for the defeat of his dearson-in-law. He acted in a foolish and stupidmanner, devoid of reason. The dedicated partyworkers felt crushed under this humiliation.

Shameless U-turn

Strangely enough, on the eve of the swearing-in ceremony, Chandrababu Naidu turned up at thein-laws' house and announced, without an iota ofshame or pride, that he would join the TeluguDesam. His behind-the-screen machinationscontinued until he overthrew his father-in-law in1995.

Rama Rao and I turned to administration inright earnest. We would discuss every issue andfile and pass orders after due deliberation. The firstthree months saw a positive change in theSecretariat and other Government offices. OfficersRegional part in the saddle


developed a sense of discipline. The Governmentfunctioned without scope for corruption.

Chandrababu snubbed

One day Chandrababu Naidu came to me,accompanied by Madasu Gangadharam of Nelloredistrict, wishing to join the Telugu Desam. 'Theparty president is none other than your father-in-law. You settle it between yourselves. Don't dragme into your arangetram programme', I told thembluntly. Chandrababu Naidu was no stranger. Heused to come to me on and off when I was Ministerin the Channa Reddy Government. He invited meto be the chief guest at some functions inChandragiri constituency. He would often derideRama Rao in a disrespectful tone. I showed littleinterest and told him it was their family matter.Then he changed the topic and complimented meon my beautiful bungalow. 'I will see you againwhen I become a Tata or Birla', he said whiledeparting. The remark seemed totally out ofcontext and occasion.

Chandrababu dropped in at my house when Iwas preparing to leave for the first meeting of theTelugu Desam Legislature Party in Rama Rao'sstudios on January 21, 1983. He taxed my patiencewith tell-tales against Rama Rao.

I was already late by 15 minutes for themeeting by which time Rama Rao had finished hisaddress. Sreenivasulu Reddy spoke next. TheRegional part in the saddle


thrust of his speech was that he had no objectionto Rama Rao admitting his political foes into theparty. I was taken aback. 'Would the TeluguDesam Party become a limited company?' Iwondered.

I gathered that in his speech, Rama Rao hadsaid veteran leaders like Gouthu Latchannawished to lend their services by joining the partyand that they should be welcomed. ChandrababuNaidu also was among those desiring to join theparty and that he too should be taken into the partyfold.]

In my speech, I said my dream of starting aregional party was fulfilled. The party had wonthe election. That was all I wished. Rama Rao tookme into the Cabinet although I wanted to opt out.The victorious members owed their position to thehard and dedicated work of district level cadre.Rama Rao knew none of them. Nor did he knowwho should be inducted into the Cabinet. I mademy displeasure clear. "I do not want to continueas Minister. I am resigning. You choose anyone inmy place. It is enough if you continue as the ChiefMinister', I told him bitterly. My speech caused aflutter among the MLAs who had no clue 'whyBhaskar Rao spoke like that'.

Admission opposed

Had I spoken about Rama Rao's intention tobetray the party by admitting ChandrababuRegional part in the saddle


Naidu, the MLAs assembled there would haveliterally bundled him out in the fit of anger. RamaRao would have lost the authority to continue asthe president of the party and leader of thelegislature wing. He had already tried to persuadeelder son-in-law and his father to endorseChandrababu's admission. Finding the mood notconducive, Rama Rao lost his patience and threwtantrums. Should the party slam the door on themsimply because they were from the other side. Hepersisted with this silly, illogical argument. Thepress was present. The next day, Eenadu came outwith an editorial 'Jaamaatha dasamagraha' ( son-in-law, the tenth Planet or evil spirit) criticisingthe move to admit Chandrababu Naidu. Otherpapers also opposed it. The MLAs at the meetingseethed with anger. I told Rama Rao he shouldnot have lost his cool. I suggested that a five-member committee be set up to examine the issue.It was formed.

Brazen Nepotism

Annoyed by the turn of events, Rama Rao askedme to take over the meeting as he had to rush tothe Secretariat. He had created a mess at the veryfirst meeting. He had conveniently forgotten thepast and unabashedly showed his weakness for theson-in-law. Naturally, the MLAs cultivated astrong dislike and aversion for their leader. Itturned out later that he did not go to theSecretariat, nor was there any meeting. It was just



a drama. He wanted to avoid drawing flak fromhis own MLAs.

Chandrababu Naidu camped in Rama Rao'shouse a day before the swearing-in ceremony.Chatting with some leaders, Rama Rao mooted theadmission of certain leaders into the party, butstopped short of mentioning Chandrababu byname. Everyone knew who he had in mind.Watching the goings-on, the outspoken BezawadaPapi Reddy exclaimed 'kammaga undayya kammarajyam'('How sweet is the Kamma rule') , punningon the word 'Kamma'. What fate had befallen himwho had once worked with stalwarts like JayaPrakash Narayan, he lamented in self-pity. Howcould a man who dared to contest against hisfather-in-law be admitted? Turning to me, he said'you at least should have the sense to dissuade him.We joined the party because of you. Not that wehad any illusions about Rama Rao's knowledge ofstatecraft. If we do not nip these ugly trends atthis stage, we will have to face serious problemsin future'. He stormed out. At the same time,Venkatrama Naidu who defeated ChandrababuNaidu in the election, threatened to hang himselfif Chandrababu was allowed into the party. Bytreating the issue as a minor issue, Rama Rao hadantagonised his own legislators. He flared up whenI tried to counsel patience.

'The elderly man might have unknowinglymade a mistake. We should take it in our stride



instead of making an issue' I tried to placate them.'Anyway the matter is before the committee. Letus wait', I said.

Power drunk

Rama Rao was those days busy overseeingconstruction of his son's house in Jubilee Hills. Hecame out to greet me and said 'Brother. I am underterrific pressure from my daughter to admitChandrababu. What shall we do? I am caught in anasty fix'. I did not know how to respond.

If I had succumbed to weakness or selfishness,we would have overthrown Rama Rao then andthere. The media would surely have pictured meas an immoral, untrustworthy and ungrateful man.My culture and upbringing held me back. We gaveour blood and sweat for the sake of the party andits success. Did we take all the pains just to invitecontempt and ridicule from the people and ourrivals? I pondered over these thoughts. On our wayback, Rama Rao asked me 'Brother. Who are theseMLAs. Are they not here because of my grace? Whyare you giving so much importance to them? '.

This is how human psychology works. Powergoes to the head. It breeds arrogance. How elsecan we describe Rama Rao's actions. Instead ofrealising that the MLAs were angry because of histhoughtless policies, he found fault with me. Yes.They might have just been non-entities till theother day, but now they were MLAs , duly electedRegional part in the saddle


by the people to make legislations. It was notproper to belittle them. You thoughtlessly triedheroics and cut a sorry figure. I advised him thusand said we could talk about it during our flight toBangalore the following morning.

Rama Rao was implacable. He took me to taskon the phone for allowing the MLAs to speak forso long. I asked him not to get agitated since thecommittee was on the job. We should focus on ourofficial responsibilities. He was in no mood tolisten.

One could well imagine how much pressuredRama Rao was by the family. He was bytemperament very emotional, liable to lose thecapacity to reason and think. He would do anythingin a fit of impulse. On board the flight, I once againtried to explain to Rama Rao it was necessary toenlist the participation and cooperation of theMLAs and that he should not offend them.

Raghupathi, a Telugu man in the RamakrishnaHegde Cabinet in Karnataka, arranged a meetingin Bangalore for the local Telugus. The mainpurpose of our visit, however, was to attend theconference of the Chief Ministers of the SouthernStates'.

NTR's strange logic

The main focus of the conference was to askfor a greater share of the Central resources for the



development of the States. This was necessarysince most of the resources were with the Centreand the States, especially the southern states, hadlimited scope for resource mobilisation. Rama Raowas unable to get the thread of the proceedings.Instead, he advanced an astonishing theory thatthe Centre was just a myth. 'Where is the Centrewithout the States?', he asked. The financeministers of the southern states also participatedin the conference.

In response to these demands, Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi appointed a Commission headed bySarkaria to examine the question of devolution ofcentral resources and powers to the States andmake recommendations.

Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterM.G.Ramachandran, said Chennai faced a severeshortage of rice and requested for supplies fromAndhra Pradesh. Rama Rao lost no time inassuring him. He asked senior officials to takeprompt steps to rush the supplies as AndhraPradesh was surplus in rice.

Back from Bangalore, we turned our attentionon administrative matters. We decided to supplythe Krishna water to meet the drinking needs ofChennai in line with the inter-statementagreement signed by Maharashtra, Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh to divert 15 tmc. ft. for thepurpose. It was a joint commitment to Tamil Nadu.



We discussed the matter with J. Raja Rao, ChiefEngineer, Major Irrigation. The mode of carryingthe water was a major problem. We consideredsupply by a pipeline. The 350-km long pipeline toChennai would run through arid zones of our State.There was the risk of the people en route breakingthe pipeline for their own use. The idea wasdropped. Instead we decided in favour an openchannel. Tree and fruit plantations could be raisedutilising the soil moisture from the runningchannel. In flood season water could also be givenfor irrigation, thus benefiting our farmers.

Raja Rao said under the Bachawat Tribunalaward on the sharing of the Krishna waters,Andhra Pradesh was at liberty to take up anynumber of projects on the river until the year 2000a.d. We would not encounter any inter-stateproblem if the channel was taken up. Based onthis assurance, we decided to begin work. We hadpromised during our tours to solve the drinkingwater shortage in Chittoor district and also agreedto help Chennai tide over water crisis.

But The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G.Ramachandran, seemed to be in a tearing hurry.He was under tremendous pressure in theAssembly to act because Prime Minister IndiraGandhi's promise to provide 15 tmc ft. remainedunfulfilled. He landed in Hyderabad at shortnotice. Rama Rao received him at the airport andasked me to join them at the guest house. Our State



did not have resources enough to take up theproject. There was no way I, as Finance Minister,could adjust funds. Our financial position was farfrom comfortable. I was helpless. The project wasthen estimated to cost Rs 500 crore to Rs 700 crore.It was scheduled to be completed in three years.

MGR - man in a hurry

I had to tell MGR that we did not have a dime.But, he was not the one to give up easily. He wasbent upon returning to Chennai with some firmcommitment from us to face the Assembly backhome. He and Rama Rao reached anunderstanding that Tamil Nadu would allot Rs 30crores to start with and Andhra Pradesh wouldchip in with Rs 5 or 10 crore. Where was themoney? Rama Rao had an idea. He said we couldraise money by disposing of old equipment andmachinery lying in Srisailam and Nagarjunasagarprojects sites. Wow, what a novel idea, I mutteredto myself.

We decided to complete the project before theother states raised objections. In the name ofsupplying water to Chennai, we also wanted tobenefit our farmers. I wanted to discuss theproposal with the Chief Minister. We wanted toname it 'Rayalaseema Rythu Canal'. He landed inChennai with the message to the people 'I havebrought water '. Before emplaning to Chennai,MGR invited me to the dias and garlanded me and



Rama Rao. 'I am your fan', MGR told me at themeeting. He prompted the Tamil Nadu Ministerfor Power to write a letter in which he too said hewas my fan.

Rama Rao then proceeded to the Press Club toannounce project, without letting me know of it.We agreed on 'Rayalaseema Rythu Canal', but hechanged the name to 'Telugu Ganga' on the spurof the moment. The press felt the name soundedrather odd. 'Our is Telugu Desam. So the projectis Telugu Ganga', he explained.

We went to MGR's residence in Chennai. Hehosted us lunch where he praised me to the skiesthat I was the chief architect of the regional partywhich rode to power defeating the powerfulCongress. It was an extraordinary feat consideringthat the situation in Andhra Pradesh was differentfrom that in Tamil Nadu where a lot of groundworkwas prepared. The anti-Brahmin sentimenttranslated into a regional outfit known as DravidaKazhagam and then Anna DMK. Unlike in TamilNadu, regionalism did not play a role in AP. "Youare the one who sowed the seed. I appreciate youfor that. Our friend Rama Rao joined as a cinemaactor. You are the sole architect. That is why Icongratulate you. I am your fan", he said in thepresence of Rama Rao.

MGR organised a public meeting in Chennaito mark the symbolic launch of the Telugu Ganga



project. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi handed overa cheque to Rama Rao on behalf of the Tamil NaduGovernment. Rama Rao passed on the cheque tome and I to the Chief Secretary. That day, MGRreceived us at the airport and drove us to the guesthouse.

NTR's antics

Apart from Indira Gandhi, MG Ramachandranand NT Rama Rao Rao, the Chief Minister ofMaharashtra, Irrigation Ministers of Maharashtraand Karnataka, the Union Minister for WaterResources, Ram Niwas Mirdha, and many otherleaders were present. Rama Rao kept on wavingto the crowd even as Indira Gandhi spoke. Therewas some commotion. Indira Gandhi was clearlyannoyed by this distraction.

It was programmed that the Chief Ministersof Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh would jointlylay foundation for the project at four places. Theytravelled in separate helicopters. Rama Rao invitedme to join, but I declined. Instead, SreenivasuluReddy accompanied him. As for the project, Isomehow felt that we had bitten more than wecould chew.

One day I asked Rama Rao how did he plan tocomplete project and if it was possible at all. Hisreply exposed his understanding of the subject. 'Nobig deal, brother. Just give my fans crowbars andbaskets and they will dig up the canal', he said



casually. I did not know whether to laugh or cry.Did he think it was cinema shooting? I wondered.

Naidu gets toe-hold

Meanwhile, the project cost escalated manytimes over though water had yet to flow in thecanal and reach Chennai. It was the case ofcounting chicken before they were hatched. TeluguGanga was grand only in its name. Validity of theBachawat Tribunal Award lapsed in 2000 a.d.Karnataka started raising objections about theproject. It was the result of undue haste exhibitedby MGR on the one hand and equally over-enthusiastic response to it by Rama Rao on theother. MGR wanted to go down in history as theman who brought drinking water to Chennai whileRama Rao nursed hopes that the people ofRayalaseema would always remember him fordoing what successive Governments had not beenable to, namely, providing irrigation facilities. Afortune had been spent on the yet unfinishedproject. Both States had suffered on account of theunimaginative and impulsive actions of theirleaders. It should have been preceded by propertechnical, financial and administrative feasibilitystudies by experts.

Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu stepped uppressure on N. T. Rama Rao for admission intothe Telugu Desam Party. He did not deem itnecessary to leave the matter to the party or to



appreciate that in a democratic polity decisionscould not be taken arbitrarily by an individual.He appeared to believe it was just a matterbetween a man and his son-in-law and that it wasobligatory to fulfill the wishes of the son-in-law.The party or the workers had no role to play. Hewas also not bothered about the reaction of thepublic. He had lorded it over in the film industryand thought he could do it in politics too. Withoutmy knowledge, he called Sreenivasul Reddy andother members of the committee to examineChandrababu Naidu's admission and got theirstamp of approval. The Delhi Stranger was sentto obtain my signature. I had told Rama Rao 'ifyou want to ruin the party like this, there isnothing I can do'. I signed the paper and flung itaway in disgust. 'We declared from housetops ouropposition to dynastic politics and familyintervention in party affairs. What are we doingnow. Will we not fall in popular esteem? This willcertainly affect the party in the long run'. So sayingI retired to my room. The Delhi Stranger relayedour conversation to Rama Rao, adding his ownspice. The expected, however, happened.Chandrababu Naidu's wish was granted and hewas enrolled as party worker. Thus the curtainscame down on the sordid drama.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



Style of functioning - whimsical

decisions

The abrupt reduction of the age ofsuperannuation of the Government employeesfrom 58 years to 55 was the most damaging ofRama Rao's ill-advised and hasty decisions. Thiswas clearly due to his lack of administrativeexperience coupled with the mulish obstinacy tohave his way in everything.

He had this habit of going to sleep at 7 in theevening and rise at the unearthly hour of 3 in themorning. This he called 'Brahmi muhurtham' whenhe took major decisions. Pseudo- intellectuals andcronies would turn up at this hour to offer so-calledbrilliant suggestions about governance, most ofwhich had proved disastrous. It started with theDelhi Stranger and grew up into a coterie, thelatest entrant being Nara Chandrababu Naidu andothers who switched loyalties from the Congressto the ruling party. The coterie gained strengthwith the arrival of Chandrababu. They firmed upthe grip over Rama Rao by ingratiating into hisfavour.

Rama Rao asked me to come to his Assemblychambers one day. 'Brother. I understand that

chapter 9


Channa Reddy raised the retirement age ofGovernment employees for dubious reasons. I havedecided to reduce it to 55 years', he said. I wantedto know who gave this advice and said it was notat all correct. As Minister in the Channa ReddyGovernment, I was party to the decision. I toldRama Rao I could not endorse the step. There wasno hanky-panky in the decision to raise the agelimit. I warned him that Government might runinto serious troubles if he went ahead with themove.

He brushed aside my objections. His argumentwas that the decision would create a lot ofvacancies which could be filled with youngerpeople, whose hopes the party had raised. He askedme to endorse his plan. Knowing his obstinacy, Isilently walked out. A few days later, he instructedsenior officials to implement the order withimmediate effect. The Chief Secretary and otherofficials told him it was not possible to put it toeffect in mid-month and it could take effect onlyfrom the first of the following month. I had alwayswondered who could have tendered that disastrousadvice. Could it be the newspaper magnate? No.He warned Rama Rao that he had made a bigblunder. Who else? Yes. The piece of immatureadvice could have been tendered by ChandrababuNaidu. The immediate backlash of the action wassudden souring of relations with the employeeswho had only recently given the regional party ahuge mandate.

NTR style of functioning - whimsical decisions


Paralytic reaction

Government activities came to a virtualstandstill. Employees idled away while the filespiled up in heaps in the offices. Advancement ofretirement age came like a bolt from the blue tothe hundreds of employees and their families.Some died of shock, while for many others lifebecame a sudden void. A dark future stared atthem. How would they live without a job and getthe children educated or married? These worrieshaunted them.

These questions did not trouble Rama Rao inthe least. As Panchatantra says, stupid people donot see or listen to reason. Having played havocwith the lives of the employees, he asked hisMinisters to go the people and justify his action asone taken in their best interests. He wanted toprejudice the people against the employees. Heasked me to go on a tour to convince the people. Irefused initially, but had no choice to agreeing.

I reluctantly went to Kakinada. The officerscursed me, Rama Rao and the Telugu DesamGovernment in the foulest language. ' Did we givethe massive mandate to humiliate us like this?',they asked , boiling with rage.

There is a personal angle to the drama. Myown brother, Janardhana Rao, who was a gazettedofficer, had lost his job overnight. He left with bagand baggage tormented by fears of a dark future



awaiting the family. He did not directly broach thematter with me, but I knew how much mentalanguish he might have undergone. I was helpless.What could I do? I sat silently with bowed head asthe agitated employees showered abuse on me andthe Government. Far from sympathising with mylot, Rama Rao felt that I had failed to convincethem. From then on, he started suspecting me.

Passing the buck

Sensing the emotional outcry against thedecision, Rama Rao passed the buck to me withoutany scruples. He said the decision was not personaldecision, but taken on my advice! As member ofthe Channa Reddy Cabinet, I was responsible forenhancing the retirement age to 58. For variousreasons, I left the Congress to start regional party.Why would I bear vengeance against the sameemployees over night. I had never signed or evennoted in the Finance department file proposingreduction of retirement age. Nor had I droppedhints or sent feelers to the effect. Yet Rama Raochose to mercilessly target me. I was projected asthe villain. He said those interested could inspectthe files. This, I believed, was the handiwork ofthe crafty son-in-law and his associates. The pressseized the opportunity with both hands to malignme further in the eyes of the public by carryingbaseless allegations and unwarranted criticism.

The officers knew me well. They also knew that



the charges leveled against me were unfoundedand that it was part of a vilification campaign.However, my detractors kept a hawk's eye on mymovements and actions. They suspected that I washand in glove with the officers. I could not evenimagine doing such things. Anyway, the employeeswent to the Supreme Court. The Government filedan affidavit before Justice O. Chinnapa Reddy thatit was misled by the Finance Minister. The apexcourt was not impressed by the shallow argument.It ruled that the decision was in the domain of theChief Minister , not the Finance Minister, and thatthe Government should not only take back theprematurely retired employees but pay them backwages to a tune of Rs 70 to 80 crores. It was a slapon the face of Rama Rao. Truth could not besuppressed forever. Rama Rao had to bear the crossfor the serious blunder which had played havocwith the lives of the employees and their families.

The whole issue was the result of Rama Rao'sadministrative incompetence coupled with hisweakness to entertain and give credence to tale-bearers.

Once tasted, they say, the thirst for blood neverabates. Rama Rao, who tasted absolute power andauthority, was not content with the lowering ofthe retirement age. He thirsted for moresensational measures, a habit that followed himfrom his cinema days. He was convinced that asthe Chief Minister, he was supreme and that his



word was law, whether in the party or in theGovernment. He conducted the affairs of the Statein this manner.

Blow to village administration

I was in Tenali when Rama Rao telephonedme to rush back for an important meeting in theevening. He offered to send a helicopter to pickme. I was worried, not knowing what bombshellhe would drop next. Even before I met him, twojunior ministers informed me that the ChiefMinister had decided to abolish the institution ofthe grama karanams and munasubs (villageofficers) in Andhra region and of the Patel andPatwaris in Telangana.

Sreenivasulu Reddy and the Chief Secretary,G. V. Ramakrishna were also present.Ramakrishna pleaded with me and SreenivasuluReddy to intervene and dissuade the ChiefMinister from taking the drastic action. Karanams,munasabs, patels and patwaris were the pillars ofthe village administration and that without them,the system would collapse. This system had beenin vogue since the days of the British. They wererepresentatives of the Government, regardless ofthe party in power. These functionaries were theonly source for collection of land revenue andcrucial details relating to land holdings and a hostof other subjects. Their services wereindispensable. The Government would run intoserious problems if the system was tinkered with.



We spared no effort to explain the dangerousimplications of the abolition and to request himnot to rush with the move. He was deaf to reasonand logic. 'Brother. Unless we abolish the systemwe will not get votes. Patwaris are sucking theblood of the masses in Telangana. They should go',he insisted. He had obviously been influenced bythe advice of the inexperienced junior ministers,one belonging to West Godavari district andanother to Nalgonda. We told him that he wouldregret if he listened to the ministers who knewnothing about administration. He nursed anillusion that people would not take notice of him ifhe did not satisfy their hunger for sensation. Wesuggested that Rama Rao could experiment withthe decision in one or two pilot taluks. Rama Rao,who revelled in keeping the people and theGovernment on tenterhooks, put his foot down.Gone was the whole system with a single stroke ofthe pen.

CS blamed

The Chief Minister held the Chief Secretaryresponsible for the delay in implementation andwent to the extent of attributing motives becausehe belonged to the same caste group as thehereditary village officers. He went to Kothagudemto resolve an issue in Singareni CollieriesCompany, accompanied by the Chief Secretary andCh. Harirama Jogaiah, one of the two juniorministers, who egged on Rama Rao to abolish the



village officers system. Rama Rao ticked off theChief Secretary in abusive terms in the presenceof the Minister. He demanded to know why hisdecision was put on hold. Ramakrishna tried toexplain that alternate arrangement would haveto be made before the system was scrapped, forwhich some time was necessary. New villageofficers should be trained. They had to beacquainted with revenue records like adangal andtheir importance. 'No. I am not interested in yourexcuses. I want implementation here and now', hesaid firmly.

The following morning, the Chief SecretaryRamakrishna dropped in at my house to brief meabout the encounter with the Chief Minister. 'I donot want this job. I am quitting', he said in disgustand walked off without even having coffee. He leftstraight for New Delhi. I was disturbed. The ChiefSecretary might have been annoyed by the rash,ill-advised actions of the Chief Minister withoutcaring about its implications for the public.

The press also devoted space to the issue. Whatif the decision threatened the very survival of theGovernment, I pondered. Rama Rao could alwaysgo back to the cine world. What about me? I wasMinister three times in the Congress party. Iresigned unable to face humiliation and floated theregional party. I steered it to power. Now the sameparty was plagued by intrigues, indiscipline,



nepotism, capricious decision-making and theautocratic style of running the Government. I couldsnap my ties with the Telugu Desam as if it werea blade of grass. But would I enjoy the samegoodwill and support from the people? Thesethoughts troubled my mind. I was in a fix. Peoplein such situation would be prone to taking rashdecisions.

I never had any illusions about Rama Rao'spolitical or administrative acumen. I had hoped torun the administration in the name of Rama Raoand serve the people. I had not bargained for thissituation. It became clear that Rama Rao lackeddedication or purity of purpose. Having moved withhim closely, I could understand his uniquepersonality, his weaknesses and beliefs. He wouldbe the first to claim credit for success and to passthe buck when things turned awry. I ponderedwhether such a person could be trusted withrunning the affairs of the State. People had seenonly his majestic personality. They had noopportunity to see the ugly face behind the mask.

Betrayal of trust and friendship were deeplyingrained his mentality. It took me time to realisethis. He was capable of, as the Telugu adage goes,dumping the raft after crossing the stream. I andI alone was guilty of bringing him into politics andinstalling him in the highest position. I paid theprice for it. I feared that this would happen oneday or the other.



N.T. Rama Rao nursed the feeling that he waswronged by the karanam of his native Nimmakuruin Krishna district in the issue of patta for hislands. The press had reported that in order to spitean individual, Rama Rao had dismantled the wholeset-up of village officers. God only knew the truth.You could not mend an obstinate mule.

Road bridge, a missed opportunity

We in the Government committed a majorblunder in respect of a road bridge project.Thousands of vehicles plied both ways on thePrakasam Barrage across Krishna river atVijayawada. As the heavy traffic posed a threat tothe safety of the barrage, we decided to constructanother road bridge. Keeping the long-term needsin view, I proposed a four-lane bridge to facilitythe voluminous traffic between Vijayawada andGuntur. I had not gone abroad, but I read aboutthese wide bridges connecting cities in the UnitedStates. I proposed a similar bridge at Vijayawada.The Union Ministry of Surface Transport approvedour proposal but suggested that the Ministerconcerned, Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, alsoparticipate in the foundation-laying function.

Rama Rao shook with anger. 'Who is thisfellow? The Centre is only a myth. How can IndiraGandhi send her man for our function'. He gaveanother demonstration of his nasty temper,political immaturity and arrogance. He rejected



the four-lane proposal and decided in favour of two-lane bridge. It was a very hasty and narrow-minded reaction. He did not realise how much losswe would suffer by foregoing the benefits of a widerbridge. I declined Rama Rao's invitation to attendthe foundation laying function. SreenivasuluReddy was present. Rama Rao could not possiblystand his presence. He might have personaldifferences with Vijayabhaskar Reddy, but heshould know that Reddy should be present in thecapacity of the Union Minister.

What a folly to rebuff the Centre's offer to sharethe project cost? Is this the way to run theGovernment affairs? Was it not self-defeating. Itold Rama Rao he had erred in the matter.Government would have saved a lot of money byconstructing the four-lane bridge. The estimatedcost was low at the time. With the bridge unableto handle the increasing traffic, Government wasforced to take up another bridge, known as SriKanaka Durga Varadhi, at great cost. This wasthe best example of what happened when peoplein power failed to display far-sightedness.

Meanwhile, hangers-on and cronies continuedto pay obeisance to the leader in the wee hours ofmorning (brahmi muhurtham) and inflated his egowith fulsome praise. I was never in the habit ofvisiting Rama Rao at that time. The coterie putdangerous ideas into his fertile brain. 'You starteda party and rode to power in nine months. You



wiped out the Congress. You only have to wish.You could one day become the Prime Minister'.This was their refrain. His ego thus bloated, RamaRao lost no time in spelling out his plan to formthe 'Bharata Desam'.

All-India designs

We had decided to hold the party's firstmahanadu after coming to power in Vijayawada.Without my knowledge, Chandrababu Naidu, theDelhi Stranger and others egged on Rama Rao toinvite leaders of all opposition parties to themahanadu as a step toward forging an anti-Congress front. The BJP, which won only two seatsin the Lok Sabha elections, and other parties sawthis as God-sent opportunity. They jumped on theNTR bandwagon and looked up to him as aMessaiah come to save the country. They rushedto his side like migrating birds from Russia andChina flocking to the Kolleru Lake every year. Thevery same people who dismissed Rama Rao as agrease-paint artiste and ridiculed his politicalambitions were now preparing to attend themahanadu.

Well. At this juncture the couterie intensifiedthe efforts to widen the differences between meand Rama Rao. They knew that unless I was outof the way, they could not firm up the grip overRama Rao and the party. I was by birth and culturea Congressman. So I should be shown the door.



They told Rama Rao that he had come to power onthe strength of an anti-Congress vote and that theparty should try to bring all opposition partiestogether against the Congress. This should be themain agenda of the Mahanaadu. The keystrategists here were Chandrababu Naidu and theDelhi Stranger. Some of these great men had noqualms in joining the very same Congress andenjoying high positions.

Top on our manifesto, when the regional partywas formed, was the item that, in the largerinterests of the State, it should cultivate cordialrelations with the Centre, whichever party was inpower. Contrary to this, efforts were now on togang up the anti-Congress forces against theCentre. Efforts to unite the opposition partiescontinued at the public meeting to mark NT RamaRao's birthday. The regional party organised aconclave of the opposition party leaders at theAPSEB guest house near Vijayawada, to which Iwas reluctantly allowed. Stalwarts from all majorparties were present. I had no role in organisingthe meeting, the whole show being orchestratedby Chandrababu Naidu and the Delhi Stranger. Iwas a mere spectator.

Jagjivan Ram, MGRamachandran, SharadPawar, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, H. N. Bahuguna,Raghunatha Reddy and others were present. TheBJP was left out as a communal party while theothers considered themselves secular. This


Bhaskar Rao’s Parents Pitchaiah, Venkayamma

Bhaskar Rao with his wife Smt. Lalita on theday of swearing in ceremony as Minister for the

first time on 10 March 1978

Bhaskar Rao’s Parents-in-LawDr. Vasireddi Venkaiah Chaudary (Barister), Laxmi Devi

Bhaskar Rao’s Brothers & SisterYounger Brother Sri Ramamurthy (Farmer),

Elder Brother Janardhana Rao (Retd. Gazeitedofficer, Vizag), Elder Sister Anasuryavathi

(Vellaturu), Bhaskar Rao on the occasion of housewarming ceremony

Nadendla Bhaskar Rao as High Court advocate(1962-1978)

Bhaskar Rao’s Elder Son Nadendla Muralidhar

Bhaskar Rao’s Younger Son Nadendla Manohar(M.L.A. Tenali constituency) Now Speaker of the

A.P. Legislative Assembly


meeting was held at the hill-top guest house ofVijayawada thermal power station. An attempt tomove a unanimous resolution against IndiraGandhi was thwarted by MG Ramachandran whosaid it was not wise to adopt a confrontationistline against the Centre. Each could mind its ownbusiness. The tone of the resolution wasaccordingly diluted.

Rama Rao's motive was clear. If the resolutionagainst Indira Gandhi was unanimously adopted,he could, on the strength of it, build a formidablefront against her and come to power at the Centre.He had joined the regional party and by hischarisma and cinema glamour formed theGovernment within nine months. In the samemanner, he might have thought, he could repeatthe feat at the national level.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



The Downward Swing

Half a million 'Prekshaka Devullu', as RamaRao liked to refer to the audience, had attendedthe public meeting in Vijayawada with a lot ofexpectation and enthusiasm. Chandrababu Naiduand the Delhi Stranger tried their best to see thatI was denied the opportunity to preside. Theyargued that since I and Rama Rao belonged to thesame social group, it was desirable to askBezawada Papi Reddy to preside.

Their plan went awry. Unfortunately for PapiReddy, he did not know the speakers, their politicalaffiliations or the background. He faltered whileintroducing them to the gathering. Noticing this,Rama Rao came over to me and said 'Brother. It isa mistake. Do not think otherwise. Please comeand preside over the meeting'.

I introduced each speaker with a brief lifesketch, his role in politics and contribution to thepublic life. The leaders and the audience alike wereimpressed by the way I conducted the proceedings.Karnataka Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegdealso was present. Some leaders could not speakfor want of time. We had to cajole some andapologise to some others. It was not difficult topacify Sharad Pawar because of my equation withhim.

chapter 10


MGR desired to speak first as he had to rushback to Chennai. He made a non-controversialspeech avoiding any critical reference to theCentre. Two things stood out. First, Rama Raocelebrated his birthday amid pomp and fanfare inthe presence of lakhs of people and second, heutilised the occasion to bring together all the topleaders of the national parties on a single platform.Both were remarkable. The common refrain of thespeeches was the scathing criticism of IndiraGandhi. It was significant that the anti-IndiraGandhi line was reinforced by Jagjivan Ram andH. N. Bahuguna, once senior leaders of theCongress party. Makineni Basavapunnaiah andChandra Rajeswara Rao, senior communistleaders, also were present. Ironically, leaders whohad only some months ago treated the TeluguDesam as untouchable were now eager to jump onits bandwagon.

We returned to Hyderabad to find the old cityrocked by communal violence. We toured the oldcity area and consoled the affected people. We tookall steps necessary to restore order and provideassistance to the affected.

Dressing down to NTR

I did some plain speaking to Rama Rao aboutthe Vijayawada meeting. I told him I did not likehis ways. I warned him that discontent wasbrewing among the cadre over the admission of

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Chandrababu Naidu and others into the party.Rama Rao had at that time excused himself andasked me to preside over the meeting while theresolution admitting them was adopted. Notcontent with their induction, Rama Rao accordedthem a status on a par with the founder-membersof the party. This amounted to insulting the cadre.I told him frankly 'I never knew the scale of yourweakness for the son-in-law. I thought you wereabove these pulls of family bondage. You createda situation where I had to become a party to it.Had I known your fatal attraction for the kin, Iwould never have invited you into politics '. Whatwas the programme we agreed upon when theparty was formed and what was happening now, Iasked. Contrary to this, Rama Rao not onlyorganised the opposition conclave in Vijayawadabut enthusiastically announced more suchconclaves at the national level. How would itbenefit the State. I told him he was under theinfluence of some evil forces leading him up thegarden path.

A few days later, Bezawada Gopala Reddydropped in at my place. I was briefing him aboutthe political developments that led to the formationof the regional party when the phone rang. RamaRao was on the line wanting to know if I wouldjoin him at the public meeting organised by thecommunist party in Guntur. 'The communists hadtreated us with disdain. They spurned our offer of

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poll alliance. Why should we attend their meeting.We will look like buffoons in the midst of those redflags. We need not go', I told him. He requestedme in so many ways, but I stood firm. "If you donot come, I too will not go', he said. 'That is yourbusiness', I countered. I also made it clear I hadnothing to do with such meetings.

State- level communist leaders capitalised onthe strain in our relations and spoke against me.In the same way, some BJP and the Janata Partyleaders in the Assembly also fished in the troubledwaters to drive a wedge between us. They hadbecome national leaders now, thanks to theirdubious skills of intrigue and manipulation. RamaRao did not forgive me on the Guntur meetingissue. I did not bother much.

Efforts to poison his mind continued. I did nottake any hasty step although many thoughtscrossed my mind. I came out of the Congress toform the regional party and guide it to astupendous success. Why should I leave the party?

Transfer episode

A loyal party worker from Vijayawada cameto me complaining about serious harassment byhis officer. Knowing his services to the party, Iwrote a letter to the concerned Ministerrecommending that the officer be transferred if therules permitted. The Minister obliged andtransferred the officer. The officer approached the

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Kankipadu and Jaggayyapeta MLAs for help. Thetwo MLAs roused the ego and pride ofChandrababu Naidu. 'Who is running theGovernment. Your father-in-law or Bhaskara Rao?If Bhaskar Rao is running the show, what are weall for, the Chief Minister, you and the MLAs?' theytaunted Chandrababu.

I was answering questions in the Assemblywhen Rama Rao summoned me to his chambers.'Brother, did you order this transfer?' he asked mein a sombre voice. 'Yes. I recommended it on therequest of a loyal party worker, only if the Ministerhad no objection and the rules permitted it'. RamaRao remained silent.

After everyone left the room, I gave a piece ofmy mind to him. Here was a man who had servedthe party with dedication. All he wanted was asmall help. I recommended transfer of the officeronly if the Minister had no objection and the rulespermitted. 'Can't we do this little help . What iswrong with it. Is it proper to question me in thepresence of colleagues and MLAs. We cannot runthe administration if you interfere in pettymatters. If you do not know how to govern, askme. I cannot order, recommend or cancel transfersat the pleasure of your son-in-law, ChandrababuNaidu'. I lashed out at him thus. The manner inwhich Rama Rao presented me as a criminal beforethe MLAs awakened my slumbering pride. I couldnot contain myself. Rama Rao did not know

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administration or politics, nor was he willing tolearn. He had this bad habit of acting on hear-sayand viewing people with suspicion and mistrust.

At this point, the Chief Secretary, ShravanKumar, entered. 'Get lost', I shouted at him. I lostcontrol of my temper. I was not in a position toworry about the consequences. 'I can't carry on likethis any longer. Please yourself. I am resigning'. Ithrew the file aside and stormed out, straight tomy house. Chandrababu Naidu came running afterme to placate, but I told him I had nothing to dowith Rama Rao.

'Anna. You know his nature. You took pains tonurture the party to this stage. The party willsuffer if you rush with resignation just because hetoo is hasty and impulsive. As the FinanceMinister, you are supposed to host dinner to theMLAs. What will they think', he pleaded. Hesucceeded in persuading me to withdraw theresignation. It was my responsibility as theFinance Minister to receive the legislators at thedinner.

Rama Rao suddenly sprang it on me. 'Brother.Let us share the power', he said. I was taken aback.'As the Chief Minister, you are the power centre. Ihave no desire to share power'. I told him not toact on silly advice by some Tom, Dick or Harry.The prestige of the administration and the partywould suffer. 'I did not want to join the Cabinet.

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Yet you appointed me as the Finance Minister andsubjected me to humiliation and sufferings'.

A few days later, J & K Chief Minister FarookhAbdullah attended a dinner hosted by Rama Rao.He treated me on a par with Rama Rao. I mighthave been a minister in Rama Rao's Cabinet andyounger in age, but he knew I was politically moreexperienced and mature. In fact, at the dinnertable, he told me that Rama Rao lacked evenminimum knowledge of administration andgovernance. There are any number of such episodesabout Rama Rao's ignorance and naivette.

Rama Rao and I could run the administrationin perfect understanding and coordination for thefirst three months. It was smooth sailing. TheAdministration was free of corruption. Soonenough, Chandrababu Naidu gained grip over theGovernment.

NTR's snide attack on me

The Chief Minister was addressing the officialsin the Secretariat when I stepped in. 'I will nottolerate traitors and corrupt people', he ranted. Iknew I was the target. He came out clean,unwittingly, when I sought to know the reason forhis outburst. Annabatthuni Satyanarayana, TenaliMLA, complained that I recommended properpolice bandobast for a meeting by K. Rosaiah,Congress leader and former minister in the town.He wanted to know what I had to say. How silly

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and unwarranted. I was not the Home Minister,nor had I given instructions to the police. I wasnot even aware of Rosaiah's meeting.

Instead of checking it out with the Director-General of Police, he sought to expose me in thepresence of a gathering. I told him these incidentshelped to strengthen rumours that relationsbetween us had turned sour. The basis forsuspicion was that Rosaiah and I were ministersin the Channa Reddy Government. I was electedfrom Tenali in 1989, defeating Annabatthuni ofthe TDP. Rosaiah had sanctioned Rs five lakhs asrelief to the college run by the defeated TDPcandidate, which was damaged in the cyclone. Asthe local MLA, I should have been informed. I wasnot.

Rama Rao viewed Rosaiah as an enemybecause he was a Congress leader and Minister inthe Channa Reddy Government. How do theordinary people know the intrigues and nefariousback room activities of people in power? The villainof the piece in this case was Annabatthuni. Hewanted to please NTR and become Minister. Back-biting and tale-bearing were part of power politics.I told Rama Rao it would do him no good if he tooknotice of every silly issue.

Ignoring my advice, Rama Rao went aheadwith opposition meetings in Kolkatta andSrinagar. In the process, Rama Rao might have

The Downward Swing


developed contacts with national leaders, but washe able to read their motives. The oppositionleaders knew that they could not anyway challengeIndira Gandhi. Now they entertained dreams ofachieving this by coming together and rallyingbehind Rama Rao.

Image-boosting show in Kashmir

As part of the publicity drive, a team oflegislators was sent to Srinagar ahead of theopposition conclave. Their job was to fall at thefeet of the party supremo as soon as he landed atthe airport. This was merely a rehearsal for theunfolding drama. Press people were also flown toSrinagar to praise Rama Rao to the skies and hailhis initiatives for the opposition unity. This wasjust a publicity stunt to boost his image and projecthim as bigger than the other leaders at theconclave. As for the opposition leaders, their ideawas to shoot at Indira Gandhi from Rama Rao'sshoulders.

Rama Rao saw enticing visions of himself inthe Prime Minister's chair. After becoming theChief Minister in just nine months, he thought, itwould not be difficult to ascend the Delhi thronewith the support of the opposition parties.Everyone nursed his or her own dreams quiteoblivious to the realities. It did not take long forthem to see the man, who they regarded asMessiah, in his true colours.

The Downward Swing


The people there did believe that Rama Raowas a demi-God, Bhagwan Ram and a Messiah.The press quoted even the Supreme Court judgeKrishna Iyer as hailing Rama Rao as a Messiah.The whole thing was a mischievous drama, co-directed by Chandrababu Naidu and the DelhiStranger.

The Telugu Desam had just assumed officewhen Indira Gandhi flew to Sriharikota fromChennai to witness the rocket-launchingprogramme at the ISRO. Rama Rao proceeded toSriharikota by helicopter. I declined his requestto join him. He stopped over at Tirupati to offerworship to the Lord of Seven Hills. He appearedsuddenly in saffron clothes taking the people andthe press by surprise. He explained he was deeplydisturbed by the report of the gang molestation ofa 11-year old girl. He became sick of life. 'Hence Iturned sanyasi and donned the saffron robes', hesaid.

He proceeded to Sriharikota in the same dressin tune with his penchant for sensationalism andattention-grabbing. This was how he wanted tospice up politics. Some Union Ministers were alsopresent at Sriharikota. Rama Rao suffered from afixation that he was and should be numero unowherever he went. Indira Gandhi came there asthe Prime Minister. Rama Rao did not conducthimself as behoved a Chief Minister. The PrimeMinister felt distracted in her speech when Rama

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Rao repeatedly waved to the crowd and itresponded with whistles and catcalls. I learnt laterthat Indira Gandhi was irritated by Rama Rao'spuerile pranks.

Back in Hyderabad, he telephoned to say thathe was not treated properly at Sriharikota. I wentto his house to find out. I was not surprised by thenew attire, but feared what ominous developmentsit could lead to. 'I should not have gone there. Itwould have been enough if as Finance Minister,you represented us. I was unnecessarily draggedinto it', he grumbled.

Rama Rao was shocked that I did not react tohis new dress. I did not feel it necessary.

Shamshabad lands affair

Rama Rao had acquired 200 or 300 acres ofland in Shamshabad near Hyderabad many yearsago. He had sold it off as he was not able to managethe property. That apart, his father died in thesame area, he explained. After becoming the ChiefMinister, Rama Rao asked the Labour Minister,Ramachandra Rao and Ramaswamy, MLA, tonegotiate for the return of the land for Rs 10 lakhsthat he received from the buyers. They bluntlyrefused and sent a legal notice to Rama Rao toregister it. Angered by the refusal, he threatenedto teach them a lesson declaring the property andalso his lands in Nimmakur village as surplusunder the ceilings law and distribute them amongThe Downward Swing


the landless poor. He was chased away by thevillagers when he landed in a helicopter. RamaRao proceeded to nearby village and asked therevenue officials to distribute the land. Well. Thatwas how our dear Chief Minister's mind worked.

On the way back, he stopped to address ameeting. He descended from the helicopter dressedlike Swami Vivekananda abandoning the saffronrobes. It puzzled me how he had survived in thefilm industry with that weird and bizarrementality. He must have thought that since hecame from the 'make believe' world of cinema, hecould get away with the antics in real life andpolitics.

We were motoring over the Prasad ColourLaboratory in Hyderabad when he asked me 'whyshould 10 acres be given to them. Do you knowwhat a colour lab is?' All I knew was that L. V.Prasad had come to the Chief Minister ChannaReddy, accompanied by A. Nageswara Rao.Channa Reddy favoured the idea of a colour lab inHyderabad as part of the efforts to move thecinema industry to the State. Prasad explainedthat producers would be reluctant to move toHyderabad unless colour facilities were provided.It was a disputed land at the time. A decision wastaken to allot it for the colour lab. Years later, LVPrasad built one of the biggest eye hospitals inAsia on the same land.

Rama Rao raised similar objection to allotting

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30 acres to the Appollo Hospitals on the groundthat five acres was sufficient for the hospital. I tooagreed. He ordered that an order reducing theallotment to five acres be issued. At this juncture,the hospital management, accompanied byChandrababu Naidu, came to prevail upon RamaRao to maintain status quo. Rama Rao got theCabinet approval for retention of the originalextent of 30 acres. When I questioned him aboutthe u-turn, he brushed it aside lightly. The unseenhand of Chandrababu Naidu was at work in everyGovernment order.

On his first visit to the US, Rama Rao was metby Mahesh Yogi who proposed to set up a sprawlingashram in Nagarjunasagar area and asked for2000 acres for the purpose. Rama Rao appearedinclined. The land fell under reserved forest. Iremembered the widely reported controversy overMahesh Yogi in Madhya Pradesh. The Governmentthere barely saved its skin. I told him about this,but Rama Rao was mentally prepared to allot theland at nominal rate to Mahesh Yogi. I also toldhim that the Government of India proposed tolocate an atomic power station in the area andrequested for land, for which survey was alsocompleted. I warned him again, but it fell on a deafear. Meanwhile, the differences between uswidened and the file gathered dust.

Axe falls on Labour Minister

Another horrible incident was the sacking ofThe Downward Swing


the Labour Minister, Ramachander Rao. What washis crime? Soon after becoming the Minister, hehad performed the marriage of his son. A womanlegislator fed Rama Rao with a blown-up accountof the grand ceremony and complained that thehigh-profile marriage was performed with themoney amassed by corrupt means. Acting on thishearsay, Rama Rao sent a CID officer as decoy totrap the Minister by putting an envelopecontaining Rs 10,000 on the Minister's desk. Thepress featured it prominently.

I and Rama Rao were in Chennai to accept theRs 30-crore cheque from MG Ramachandran forthe Telugu Ganga project. Someone telephoned tome about the raid on Ramachander Rao's house. Iwas shocked. I asked Rama Rao whether he knewabout it. 'Yes, brother. You do not know. Our partyis losing image, corrupt people have infiltrated.We make him Minister believing him to be honest.He makes money and celebrates marriage in greatstyle'.

I cancelled scheduled trip to Narasaraopet andproceeded to Hyderabad to talk to RamachanderRao. 'Sir. I am not guilty of any crime. Police officerAppa Rao placed an envelope on my table and luredme into gossip. They recorded the conversation',he broke down. He was branded as corrupt andsacked without a valid reason. Ramachander Raowas my close associate. Chandrababu Naidu andthe Delhi Stranger did not like this and plotted

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his ouster. Many people who met me laterconfirmed this.

Sagging party image

Many of us felt anguished by the development.Rama Rao summoned his ministers and played thetape recorded by the CID. None of us knew how toreact. Even Sreenivasul Reddy silently walkedaway with a saddened look on his face. Only twoof us were present when I asked Rama Rao whathe sought to achieve by such actions. He cameclean. 'Brother, the party image is sliding. That iswhy I stage-managed this. This is no big issue.What can these people do if we are to-gether'. Iwas upset. I asked him if it was morally justifiedto punish the father when the daughter was stillin her bridal attire. 'Do you think people willcondone your action?' I shot at him angrily. Hereiterated that there was no other way to restorethe party's sagging image. It lingered in my mindfor long. Later, I was informed that ChandrababuNaidu had scripted Ramachander Rao's downfall.

We and some others were engrossed in adiscussion when Chandrababu Naidu came in.Rama Rao waved him away. I was surprised. "Lethim come in. You have been taking his advice also.What is wrong if he joins?' I asked him with a pinchof sarcasm. It pricked him. He did not expect that.

Transport Minister Satyanarayana came froma very ordinary family in Warangal district. Some

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of his friends gifted a black and white televisionset (Colour TVs were yet to come) for his children.I did not know how Rama Rao came to know. Basedon hearsay, Rama Rao abused him for buying acolour TV the moment he became a Minister. Hetried to dismiss Satyanarayana from the Cabinet.I was told the case was also referred to the LokAyukta.

Basava Tarakam, wife of Rama Rao, becamesick in January 1984, a year after the party cameto power. She was to be taken to the US fortreatment. According to the rules in vogue,Ministers and officers and their spouses wereeligible for an assistance of Rs 40,000 for medicaltreatment abroad. Open heart and coronary by-pass surgeries in the country were rare. As FinanceMinister, I sanctioned Rs 40,000 as Governmentaid to Rama Rao for his wife's treatment in theUnited States.

We planned a big public meeting in the LalBahadur stadium to celebrate the first anniversaryof the Telugu Desam Government. I was scarcelyaware that a drama was about to unfold. TheGovernor and a number of VIPs were present. Inoticed a nervous-looking Rama Rao sitting nextto me, instead of the place earmarked for him.

Assassination drama

Mridangam virtuoso Yella Venkateswara Raowas captivating the audience with scintillating

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display of his skills. It was at this juncture that astranger lunged at Rama Rao with a dagger inhand and shouting 'Indira Gandhi zindabad'. Inthe scuffle that ensued, Rama Rao suffered a cutin the thumb. He showed the bleeding finger tothe shocked gathering. In the confusion, myspectacles fell off. The whole thing was over beforeI retrieved them.

Ignoring my plea to rush to the hospital, RamaRao proceeded to the dais, complimented theartiste and left for his house. I jumped into hiscar. Rama Rao went into the kitchen and returnedafter bandaging the wound with citrus juice. Iforcibly took him to the NIMS. At the entrance, heturned to me and asked me to go home as it wastime for dinner. It sounded mysterious. He wentin alone. From then on, it was his habit to showthe bandaged finger and tell people how he hadprovidentially escaped the assassination attemptby Indira Gandhi's men. Governors, ChiefMinisters and other VIPs flocked to console him.He also reaped a rich harvest of public sympathy.

Rama Rao's followers, including ChandrababuNaidu and the Delhi Stranger, tried to link myname with the attacker since he belonged to mynative Guntur district. It did not work. So the casewas registered against the accused. I was not calledfor examination although I was an eye witness. Iwas just beginning to understand the conspiracy.

Rama Rao appeared before the court. In a great

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exhibition of forgiveness, he appealed to the judgeto spare the accused, Mallela Babji. Rama Raosuccessfully enacted the drama, but I saw throughthe game. Mallela Babji telephoned to me one day.According to him, a senior police officer, who laterbecame a Minister in Chandrababu Naidu'sCabinet, and Chandrababu engaged him to enactthe drama for which he was offered Rs three lakhsand employment. He was positioned near a policeofficer behind the VIP lounge to carry out the task.Babji was from Guntur district. I knew suchdramas were common in cinemas, but I neverimagined them happening in real life.

Babji thrashed

After release from the jail, Babji pesteredChandrababu Naidu for the promised money.Instead, Chandrababu Naidu got him appointedas a temporary attender in Guntur Zilla Parishadchairman, Sakkurthi Ramaiah's office. Babji wasremoved after some time. He was beaten black andblue and kicked out for demanding Rs three lakhs,he told me on phone.

Babji once telephoned to seek an appointment.I did not want to get into the muddle. I told himmy house was watched by the police and the CIDsand he would be in trouble if came over. A fewdays later I read in paper about his suicide inVijayawada. On the basis of suicide note, the localinspector of police booked criminal case against

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the Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu and theSuperintendent of Police. The Director-General ofPolice rushed to Vijayawada and admonished theinspector for daring to book a case against the ChiefMinister himself. He tore up the papers andsuspended the inspector.

Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, Vijayawada MLA,opened this can of worms in the Assembly, forcingthe Government to appoint Justice SriramuluCommission to investigate. The One-ManCommission summoned me to appear before it asan eye-witness. The defence counsel panickedwhen I started relating the day's happenings. Hetried to object saying 'Rama Rao's goose will becooked if you go on like this'. The judge overruledthe objection and allowed me to proceed. 'Are youafraid of Rama Rao', the lawyer asked me. I toldhim not to act smart and that I had practised for16 years in the High Court. I warned him againsttrying his tricks with me again.

Rama Rao refused extension to the Commissionof Inquiry as he was displeased with it for recordingstatements against him. The Commission, whichhad already completed its work, ruled that thewhole thing was a drama. The report gathered dustin the Secretariat, but the press played it up.

Turn-coat judge

I read an interesting story in the newspapersrecently that Justice Sriramulu had joined the

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Telugu Desam. Hats off to Chandrababu Naidufor his manipulative skills, I must say.Chandrababu Naidu explained that JusticeSriramulu was admitted in 'intellectuals' category.It was surprising that the man who ruled that theattack on Rama Rao was a drama should be drawnto the Telugu Desam.

The inspector, who was suspended andharassed by the Government, had settled down inVisakhapatnam after retirement as additionalsuperintendent of police. He narrated the wholestory to me. I am placing them before you, thereader, for your judgment.

Rama Rao left for America with 'SriVenkateswaraswami dollars' and kumkumbharanis for the Telugus there. He was asked toundergo some heart-related tests and angiogram.Was he not supposed to garner NRI investmentsfor the State? Not even a small industry had comeup.

On return, Rama Rao coolly dropped abombshell at a meeting of officers. He told me hewould have to go to the US again for a secondangiogram. Nothing wrong, I thought, in going formedical treatment. On an application by RamaRao, the Chief Secretary circulated a file forsanction of Rs three lakhs for the purpose. TheChief Minister would be accompanied by thesecurity officer. With the Finance Secretary

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clearing it, I as Finance Minister signed on thefile. I wondered whether it was necessary to go tothe US for angiogram which was a minorprocedure. No officer had mentioned in the file thatRama Rao's condition was serious or that itwarranted surgery. The file did not contain evendoctor's certificate.

Rama Rao was advised by some that he shouldentrust his responsibilities to a senior ministerwhile he was abroad. Chandrababu Naidu shotdown the idea saying the Chief Minister would runthe Government from the US through fax. RamaRao, however, did not operate from the US.Directions to the administration emanated fromChandrababu Naidu's house only .

I was sitting with the reporters in my chamberswhen a call came from Rama Rao, his first aftergoing to the US. 'Communal riots appear to havebroken out in the old city of Hyderabad,endangering peace and order. Put them downfirmly', he told me. He said the operation was overand that he had just been wheeled out of theoperation theatre.

I was disturbed by the communal violence. Iwondered who should be fanning hatred betweenthe communities. I decided to visit the old city forfirsthand information. By then ChandrababuNaidu had already taken over the reins ofadministration. On his instructions, the Chief

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Secretary told me against undertaking the trip inview of the highly volatile situation there. I toldhim it was not fair to sit back when the old citywas burning. Accompanied by a few ministers, Itoured the affected areas and tried to instillconfidence in them. The situation came undercontrol after our visit.

No to Jampani sugar factory

Channa Reddy had laid foundation for thecooperative sugar factory at Jampani in Gunturdistrict. Nannapaneni Venkata Rao mobilisedshare capital from the people. After his death, thefactory was named after him. I was Minister atthe time, but I could not arrange funds for thefactory. I succeeded only after the Telugu Desamcame to power and I became the Finance Minister.I asked Rama Rao to inaugurate the factory whichwas located in my constituency. The factory wasthen headed by Alapati Dharma Rao of theCongress. Rama Rao refused to inaugurate unlessthe Congress-dominated society was sacked. I toldhim that Dharma Rao and the society were dulyelected by the farmers. If the society wassuperseded, they would go to the court and get astay. That would be a blow to our Government. Hedid not relent.

The real reason for this was the runningdispute between the district MLAs and DharmaRao. Chandrababu Naidu scripted the drama

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offering full support to the party MLAs. This wasa drama within a drama. I had to inaugurate thefactory myself.

I was on a tour of West Godavari district whenMullapudi Harischandra Prasad, then in theCongress party, invited me to a function. Iaccepted. Rama Rao tried to make a big issue of it.He got the press to write that I was hobnobbingwith the Congressmen. Ironically, the same RamaRao befriended Harischandra Prasad aftersometime and tried to set him against me.

Upendra's defeat

Rama Rao had boasted that he could make evena twig win an election. His candidate, P. Upendra,lost the Assembly by-election in Hyderabad. Whenreminded of the boast by the media, he had noanswer. He stood with bowed head. When acombination of factors like opportunities, politicalclimate and fate led to victory, Rama Raoattributed it to his own greatness. When the samefactors turned adverse, he looked elsewhere forexcuses. Even in his acting days, Rama Rao hadpersonally campaigned for a candidate inPithapuram and the man could not save even hisdeposit. He thought that people would rain votessimply because of cine glamour.

If the Telugu Desam had won a massivemandate in the election, it did not redound to thecredit of Rama Rao or me alone. The time andThe Downward Swing


prevailing conditions favoured the party. First thepeople were disenchanted with the inept CongressGovernment and strongly desired a change, secondRama Rao's charisma and leadership helped.

Rama Rao could not talk without putting thefoot in his mouth. It became a habit. He woulddivert visitors and favour-seekers to ChandrababuNaidu believing him to be Jack of All Trades. Hehad stopped talking to me or taking me intoconfidence on any official matter. Things had cometo such a pass that Chandrababu Naidu organisedtraining camps for the MLAs over the head ofRama Rao.

NSR s request

My Cabinet colleague NallapureddySreenivasulu Reddy came to me with a request tohelp his friend bidding for a contract atYeleswaram project. He said the contractor hadsupported him in a big way during the elections,but had since fallen on bad days. Althoughbelonging to Krishna district, he was engaged inmining business in Nellore district.

I sent the file to the Chief Minister withsuitable recommendation, but the file idled on hisdesk. On discreet enquiry, I understood thatChandrababu Naidu, two legislators from WestGodavari and Krishna district wanted the work togo to a Hyderabad-based contractor. They told theChief Minister that the contractor wouldThe Downward Swing


contribute liberally to the party fund, but Icomplicated the matter by my notings in the file.The Chief Minister rejected the file. This was thefirst time he rejected my file. Sreenivasulu Reddycame with the file and asked me to personally getthe Chief Minister's signature. I was not in thehabit of lobbying. I re-circulated the file with thesame recommendation.

The file remained with Rama Rao for 15 days.He never spoke to me during this period. One day,he telephoned with a terse message 'Brother. Ihave signed your file'. I asked him which file hereferred to. 'The file where you granted exemptionfrom the general freeze. I have sanctioned Rupeesthree crores'. I said Rupees three crores was nobig deal. The contractor was once a very wealthyman. Now he was broke and could not even marryhis children. I granted exemption becauseSreenivasulu Reddy made a personal request.'Anyway I am glad you cleared it', I told him.

God only knew how much was siphoned off byChandrababu Naidu and his men in the Yeleruproject which became a big scam. A proper inquiryhad not been ordered so far. Only a fair probe wouldbring out the truth.

Studio irregularities

Rama Rao had requested the Chief MinisterVijayabhaskar Reddy for permission to constructtwo cinema theatres in his studio in Bakaram andThe Downward Swing


for conversion of the area from industrial tocommercial zone. This was before had enteredpolitics. Meanwhile, general elections were heldand the Telugu Desam rode to power. Rama Raosent a request to Vijayabhaskar Reddy, throughsome intermediaries, to discreetly give an ante-dated approval to his application. VijayabhaskarReddy politely declined to oblige. The ChiefSecretary and the Secretary, MunicipalAdministration, also refused.

The real story behind this was ..

In 1975, the Chief Minister Jalagam VengalaRao allotted a site in Bakaram industrial industrialarea to Rama Rao at a nominal rate. The AP StateFilm Development Corporation sanctioned Rs 8lakhs for construction of the studios. Those daysGovernment liberally granted land to encouragethe film industry to shift from Chennai to the State.Nageswara Rao also was allotted land in BanjaraHills for construction of Annapurna Studios. RamaRao had encroached adjacent Government landand built commercial complex on the main road,contrary to the purpose for which it was allottedto him. Government regularised the encroachmentwith a compounding fee of Rs 20,000. Immediatelyafter becoming the Chief Minister, he signed thefile reducing the compounding fee to Rs 1,000 andconverting the industrial zone into commercial one.By this act, Rama Rao lowered himself in the

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esteem of the people. This episode was widelyreported in the press.

Producer D. Rama Naidu and actor Krishnasubmitted application for allotment of land. Thefile came to me. As Finance Minister Irecommended that they be allotted land at thesame rate fixed for Rama Rao and Nageswara Raoin the past. Rama Rao objected to it that the ratefixed years ago was not valid now. I told him thatthe applicants could go to court allegingdiscrimination and get a favourable verdict if therate was revised upwards. He agreed. Today, thetwo studios are vibrant and flourishing.

At one time we in the Channa ReddyGovernment took many steps and offeredincentives to encourage the film industry inHyderabad. But Rama Rao, who came from theindustry, did precious little in the matter due toprofessional jealousy against his erstwhilecolleagues in the cine field. He was not favourablydisposed to allotting land to the producers. For mypart, I issued orders that the policy of allottingsite to film entrepreneurs be continued. Howhollow the lofty monologues of Rama Rao on thesilver screen now sounded, I thought.

Akademis scrapped

On a fine day at 'brahmi muhurtham', RamaRao decided to abolish cultural akademis - AP

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Sahitya Akademi, Sangeeta, Nrutya and LalitaKala Akademis and replace them with better set-ups. He had not taken the Cabinet nor the seniorministers into confidence in the matter. NarlaVenkateswara Rao was also among those whoadvised scrapping of the akademis. Not only him,but film fans and others became advisers andconverted the administration into a 'make believe'world. They had little respect for the Government.In effect, the people also lost respect for theadministration.

Rama Rao nursed a grouse against themanagement of a newspaper which was highlycritical of him and his policies. He ordereddemolition of the hotel owned by the samemanagement for widening the road. The hotelowner, who was also Member of the Rajya Sabha,approached me and asked for a few days time. Iadvised my Secretary Sarma to hold it forsometime because the new Government should notget into controversies. The owner got stay orderfrom the court.

Sometime later we drove down the road whenRama Rao noticed the building and said 'Brother.I ordered its demolition but you granted stay'. Itold him I did no grant any stay and that the ownergot it from the court. I also said our Governmenthad just assumed office and that we should notinvite trouble by unpopular actions. We couldattend to irregular constructions after the

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Government was well entrenched. We should focuson fulfilling the promises made to the people. Thesaid hotel belonged to the management of DeccanChronicle.

I counseled Rama Rao not to be vindictiveagainst the press. It was free to write whatever itwanted to. 'They wrote against me and carried acaricature showing me as a fox. Did I attack them?They are ruining themselves by misusing theprivilege of freedom given to them. It is not for usto interfere'.

I was attending the function of Siddipet BarAssociation along with the Chief Justice and theOpposition leader in the Assembly , A. MadanMohan, when I received a police message askingme to rush to the Legislative Council which wasthen in session. I was told that the Chief Ministerwas unable to answer the questions by theopposition leaders leading to an uproar. I shouldtherefore return at once. Syed Mukassir Shah wasthe Chairman of the Legislative Council which hadan array of stalwarts - brilliant and articulate.Jupudi Yegnanarayana, Konijeti Rosaiah, MoturuHanumantha Rao, Makineni Basavapunnaiah, V.Rama Rao and one-time Minister Dandu SivaramaRaju. Each one a warrior ready to take on theGovernment. They would miss no opportunity tocorner Rama Rao and put him on the mat.

One day, they asked Rama Rao if he was 'a

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Rajarshi or just a Maharshi?' He replied he was a'Rajarshi'. Many odd and sometimes repulsivematters used to come up for discussion in theHouse.

Abolition of the Legislative Council

Cornered by the opposition members duringquestion time and unable to handle trickysituations in the Upper House, the Chief Ministerintroduced a bill abolishing the Legislative Council.

I had explained to him that it was possible toget elected to the Legislative Assembly by severalmeans - money power, muscle power, goodwill orby merit. The Constitution-makers had created theLegislative Council recognising the need for properrepresentation to different castes, communitiesand other sections like professionals, intellectualsand artistes. The Upper House would offer maturecounsel to the Government in policy and decision-making and help it serve the people better.

I signed an Excise department file on the wrongadvice by an officer. It created a flutter in theCouncil. The newspaper baron declared a war onme leveling bribery charges against me. N.T. RamaRao was caught in the pincer grip of the opposition.Rama Rao was faced with Hobson's Choice - shouldhe stand by me or support the newspaper owner. Iwas not at fault. The officers said it was theirmistake and that I had nothing to do with it. Thefiles were placed before the Chairman of the

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Council for perusal by the members. The oppositionparties raised the pitch in order to divide me andRama Rao. Ultimately, Rama Rao stood by me inthe controversy.

The opposition was full of praise for me for mybudget speech and for the way I handled theirquestions. Rama Rao was present during my threeand half hour speech. The opposition leaders saidhitherto they were under the impression thatRama Rao was running the Administration andthe efficient hand of Bhaskara Rao was now clearto all. Their motive was clear - to drive a wedgebetween us. But the hot-headed and arrogantRama Rao failed to see through the game. Helorded it over in the cine filed, but he failed torealise that politics was an altogether different ballgame where one could not have one's way all thetime.

The bitter experiences - ridicule andhumiliation - he had endured in the LegislativeCouncil had hurt his pride deeply. He decided toabolish the Upper House and forwarded theresolution to the Government of India. The Centreaccepted it without even urging the StateGovernment to think it over again. The people inpower at the Centre might have seen no harm inwinding up the Council because neither their mennor the party was in power in Andhra Pradesh.

Blunder after blunder was committed becauseof Rama Rao's lack of political experience. The price

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of milk, a daily necessity of the common man, wasabruptly raised because of Chandrababu Naidu'sadvice that the AP Dairy Development Corporationshould be run on commercial lines. Similarlyscholarship money given to the scheduled caste,the scheduled tribes and the backward classesstudents was reduced. Chandrababu Naidu's otherdecisions also were arbitrarily implementedwithout any discussion.

Devanathan episode

Rama Rao appointed one Devanathan as hisadviser according him a status on a par withMinister. Devanathan was Rama Rao's lawyer andincome tax consultant while in Chennai. As theChief Minister, Rama Rao's word was law. Whatwas Devanathan's job? He was supposed to takecare of Rama Rao's business interests and incometax affairs. Needless to say he was paid from theState exchequer. Rama Rao thought Governmentwas his personal domain. He committed a numberof mistakes and led the Government to the brinkof the precipice.

Another misadventure was the creation of'Dharma Mahamatra', a quasi judicial body,headed by E. V. Rami Reddy, a former IAS officer.It was intended to strike terror among themembers of the bureaucracy who sought toquestion Government's decisions. Having seen thefate of no less a man than the Labour Minister

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Ramachander Rao, the officers chose to lie low.The Chief Minister went after officers whodemanded bribe from him before he entered politicsand gave them hell. One such victim was C. N.Sastry, a retired IAS officer.

The Government's functioning underwent adrastic change after the Telugu Desam LegislatureParty cleared the admission of ChandrababuNaidu. The press criticised Chandrababu's new-fangled ideas of administration and hisinterference in it. Rama Rao ignored them all. Theelder son-in-law was the convenor of the youthwing and the younger one pulled the strings frombehind. The 'Rajakota rahasyam' (palace intrigues)became public knowledge. Gajjela Malla Reddyused to have barbed flings at the father-in-law andthe son-in-law duo in his popular column'Punyabhoomi' in Eenadu.

Those were the days when Chandrababu Naiduon one hand scuttled implementation of thepromises made to the people while on the other,Rama Rao whiled away time spitting fire andvenom on the so-called corrupt officials.

Rama Rao, who had blasted the Congress forits wrong policies, had no qualms in repeating someof them. The Telugu Party had scoffed at thepractice of fielding the spouse to fill the vacancycaused by the death of an elected leader. Now theleader unabashedly followed the same practice

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whether in the elections to the local bodies orothers. We shouted from housetops againstdynastic politics and promised the people that theTelugu Desam would be free of it. Our leaderspared no occasion to describe the people as 'naadevullu' and promised to dedicate himself to theirservice. The people were impressed by the pompouscinematic monologues. This was just a drama. Thepress complimented Rama Rao for playing his partwell in political games and the one-act play.

Rama Rao threatened to put down groupismin the party with an iron foot even as his darlingsons-in-law led rival factions within the party. Thewarning sounded hollow. They tried to prevent myfollowers from attending my meeting inVijayawada.

Fascist trends

They used the Delhi Stranger as puppet forsometime, but the plan was to ease out all outsidersfrom key positions in the party and turn it into afamily concern. Does not this fascist outlookremind one of Adolf Hitler? One would not havefailed to notice the distinctly Hitlerian style ofadministering the oath of loyalty in Rama Rao'sadministration of pledge to party workers. RamaRao was the Telugu Desam and the Telugu Desamwas Rama Rao. There was no place for anyoneother than him and the family. Rama Rao built abarrier around himself and referred everyone,

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ordinary public or partymen, to ChandrababuNaidu. It was a clear case of power going to thehead.

The national press and the State pressshowered praise on me for the unique way Ipresented the State budget in the Assembly in1984. My two-hour speech was greeted withthumping of the desks by the members. Rama Raochose to remain in the Secretariat. How could aChief Minister fail to be present during the Budgetspeech? Would it not send wrong signals? Therecould be only one reason for this. He could notstomach fulsome praise for me.

I followed this with an even longer speech inthe Legislative Council. Veterans and all membershailed my speech and complimented me. TheAppropriation Bill was thus passed.

Chandrababu Naidu, the Delhi Strangers andtheir cronies lost no time in poisoning Rama Rao'smind giving distorted account of the happenings.Rama Rao felt it was an attempt to be little him inthe Council. Rama Rao's wounded pride wasfurther festered when the couterie wondered whowould care for him now that Bhaskara Rao wasgaining popularity and recognition as an ableleader. Added to this was the casual observationsby opposition leaders that the budget speech hadmade clear who the real leader of the party was.Rama Rao was a mere vote-gatherer, but the real

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man was Bhaskar Rao. This was their game planto create differences between us. It was at thisjuncture that I wanted to resign as the FinanceMinister, but had to take it back and be presentfor the dinner.

A wonderful resolution was introduced at theMay 1983 mahanadu in Vijayawada proposing thatnew entrants to the party be treated on a par withthe senior and founding members of the party. Thisgimmick, obviously of Chandrababu Naidu,reminds one of the camel and the tent story. Hisidea was to move up the ladder gradually.

Strategic exit

Rama Rao and I were present when theresolution was introduced, but he made a discreetand strategic exit when it came up for discussion,leaving me to preside over the meeting. He did notwant to be involved and get bad name when theissue of his son-in-law's admission came up. Hegot the resolution adopted. Rama Rao's tacticsreminded one of the Mahabharatha episode whereArjuna and Duryodhana came to Lord Krishna fora favour. Arjuna waited at the feet of the Lord whowas asleep and Duryodhana at the Lord's head.Lord Krishna winked at Arjuna and gave the firsthearing to Duryodhana, although he wished tofavour Arjuna. Hats off to his acting abilities. Nowonder Rama Rao was called "Nata Ratna'. Theresolution was adopted, but the cadre from

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Chittoor district loudly protested the admission ofChandrababu Naidu. But who cares?

Chandrababu Naidu utilised the newly-granted authority to hold training and orientationprogrammes for the legislators to gain completehold over them and the party.Consequently,regular party activities came to a near halt.Chandrababu's ascendancy was comparable toVamana's modest request for three steps whichproved fatal to King Bali.

Yellow fever at Vizag mahanadu

The coterie was ready with its resolutions whenmahanadu in May 1984 at Visakhapatnam. I hadarrived by train and Rama Rao by air. Rama Raowas already there in the hut built for himself.Perhaps it may be more dignified to describe the'gudise' (hut) as a 'parnasaala'. As a lover of khadi,I always dressed in khadi shirt and dhoti. I noticeda barrel of yellow water. Chandrababu's mendipped the shirts of the cadre in yellow water, theparty colour. I wondered what this extremeregimentation was. As soon as I stepped in, RamaRao led me out saying 'Brother. Let us go. It isalready late'. I already guessed that ChandrababuNaidu put Rama Rao on the wrong track.

Rama Rao was a Hitler fan and would oftentell me that the German leader was a great orator.Sreenivasulu Reddy, other ministers, BezwadaPapi Reddy, senior leaders, members and non-

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members of the State executive were alreadyseated on the raised platform. I chose to take aseat in front of the dias while Rama Rao climbedon to the dias. He was furious at what he saw - anumber of people who were not members of theexecutive committee. They had no business to bethere. He growled like a lion. The message wasclear. People jumped from the dais out of sheerpanic, some sustained minor injuries in theprocess. I wondered if this was not a prelude towhat lay in store.

Rama Rao did not brief me about theresolutions, most of them sponsored byChandrababu Naidu. Rama Rao's speech that dayreally sounded like Hitler's for its fascist tone andtenor. Addressing the MLAs, he said some of themacted and talked as they wished. Those whowanted to remain with the party could do so.Others were welcome to leave. He had carvedMLAs out of non-entities. He could make a bladeof grass win an election from any constituency ifhe so desired, he boasted.

It sounded less like political speech than adictator's ranting. He seemed to believe that hewas everything in the party and that others werejust orphans. The whole effort was aimed atterrorising the MLAs and beating them intosubmission. Is this the way to treat MLAs?' Ilistened calmly with the head bowed.

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The Governor's institution

We reassembled for the evening session whenRama Rao suggested that I move a resolutioncalling for abolition of the institution of theGovernor. 'What', I said,' this is wrong. We all cameto power only through the Constitutional office ofthe Governor'. I explained to him further that wehad sworn allegiance and loyalty to theConstitution and the Governor was its creation.The Governor had the authority to dismiss us atonce for the anti-Constitutional move. Adoptingthe resolution would be asking for trouble. Iwondered whose brain wave it was and said 'no'point blank. He dropped the idea. He got the otherroutine resolutions adopted amid applause. By theend of the Visakhapatnam Mahanadu, thehoneymoon with the people appeared to be over.He faced open criticism from the people, some ofwhom felt he was unfit to rule. I continued to offerproper advice, from time to time, in running theadministration to ensure that he did commitblunders, but the coterie put him on the wrongfoot with its own advice.

We did not meet often those days. I would notcall on him at his residence unless it was necessary.I did not start the regional party to commitmistakes or to make Rama Rao commit them. Ofcourse, Rama Rao was capable of committing hismistakes unassisted or at the instance of the sons-in-law. The party was started to counter the step-

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motherly treatment of the State by the CentralGovernment and other autocratic policies. It haddrifted from this agenda. The party image reacheda danger level, thanks to the leader's high-handedness.

I had included women's right to property inthe party manifesto. Women could be independentif they were given an equal share in the paternalproperty. However, in his cinematic style, RamaRao hijacked the issue and claimed total credit forit. The pucca housing scheme for the poor was alsoauthored by me.

I was a on a tour of East Godavari. TheCollector, Agarwal, took up a commendablehousing scheme for the poor. I inaugurated a colonyand was impressed. He explained to me that hehad taken up constutcion of 10,000 houses in thedistrict. Later I discussed the issue with the ChiefSecretary. I asked him to formulate a scheme forconstruction of 10,000 to 20,000 houses in everydistrict for which funds could be obtained from theHUDCO. I asked him to involve the bankers too.That was how the pucca housing scheme in theState came into being.

Rs 2 a kg rice scheme

Turlapati Satyanarayana, secretary in theparty office, suggested that we introduce asubsidised rice supply scheme on the lines of therupee a measure programme pioneered by C.N.

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Annadurai in Tamil Nadu. I talked to the RevenueSecretary in this regard. He discouraged the ideaas the proposed scheme would account for a hugechunk of the budget leaving little or no funds forother welfare or development programmes. Iexplained the pros and cons of the scheme to RamaRao and Satyanarayana. Brushing aside myadvice, Rama Rao went ahead with it. Having doneit, he should at least have studied the modalitiesof implementation in Tamil Nadu and otheraspects. Annadurai had clearly mentioned that therupee a measure of rice would be limited to theslum-dwellers of Chennai.

The over-enthusiastic Rama Rao hastilyannounced to the press that it would beimplemented throughout the State. TheGovernment had to commit itself to the hugeburden. Predictably, other programmes ground toa halt as the lion's share went to the rice scheme.Thus even a good scheme floundered on accountof hasty, thoughtless unplanned execution.

Equal rights for women in paternal propertycould become law only if half the States in thecountry were in its favour and a bill to the effectamending the Hindu Law should be adopted inParliament. Contrary to this, the bill was gotcleared in the State Legislature and the President'sAssent secured for it. It hardly helped the women.There was no such provision in the Hindu Law.The State legislation would not stand judicial

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scrutiny. My pious intention of benefitting womenhad thus ended in smoke. Any plan should beproperly discussed, the pros and the cons examinedand loopholes plugged before implementation. Nopurpose would be served by viewing everythingfrom political and publicity angle. The sameattitude characterised the formulation andimplementation of the women's rights, Rs 2 kg riceand housing schemes. The Telugu Desam or RamaRao had little else to talk about in the publicmeetings. He was in no mood to listen to my saneadvice. The rice scheme was diluted and altogetherabandoned. Other essential commodities were alsonot available in the ration shops. For Rama Raowhat mattered was image-boosting and publicity.In fact, pucca housing scheme was incorporatedin Indira Gandhi's 20-point programme long ago,but the people were led to believe that it was thebenevolence of Rama Rao, the sole architect of thescheme.

I had believed that I could somehow manageto bridge the widening communication gap withRama Rao. I realised I had erred. My plight waslike that of a man who put his head in the lion'smouth and tried to get out of it.

I had mentioned before Rama Rao's trip to theUnited States to bring NRI funds for theindustrialisation of the State. He had come backempty-handed. On return, he drew flak for hiscontroversial statement that American roads were

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c leaner than bathrooms in India. On one occasion,Rama Rao confessed that he had ordereddemolition of the Rajya Sabha Member's hotel atthe instance of the newspaper baron.

Rama Rao had long since stopped entertainingsuggestions from the Cabinet colleagues at theCabinet meetings. Chandrababu Naidu was thefocal point of power and an extra-constitutionalauthority. His writ ran. As a result, the Ministersbecame mere figure-heads. They hesitated to takeinitiative in any matter for fear of adverse reaction.

Queen Elizabeth's visit

Queen Elizabeth II was on a visit to India in1984. The British Council, which took upconstruction of its Library building opposite theSecretariat in Hyderabad, was keen on the Queeninaugurating it. Knowing well of the royal visit,Rama Rao ordered demolition of the building forcontravention of building rules. The Minister forMunicipal Administration rushed to me with thenews. "You write favourably in the file. We canlook into the violations after the Queen's visit', Itold him.

The Queen included Hyderabad in heritinerary due to some nostalgic memories of thecantonment area. The ego in Rama Rao gainedupper hand. 'I am the Government here. How canthe Queen inaugurate', he thought and ordereddemolition of the upper floor of the building the

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same evening. The concerned official came to meand wailed 'Sir. The British Library people are cutup with us. The Chief Minister is not agreeing tolet them off with a penalty'. I asked him to sendthe file to the Chief Minister with hisrecommendations and be done with it. The buildingstands this day in the same condition - a mutewitness to the imperiousness of the ruler.

The Governor invited Rama Rao and me to thedinner he hosted in honour of the visiting RoyalGuest. This was done in consultation with theBritish officials accompanying the Queen, in tunewith the protocol procedure. The Secretary,Finance, is an important figure in the UnitedKingdom. The same importance was accorded tome as the Finance Minister. Chandrababu Naiduwas furious at my being equated with the ChiefMinister. He raised objections. The Governorpersonally intervened to resolve the issue byinviting five other senior Ministers for the dinner,again in consultation with the British officials.

One may wonder why the Governor neededpermission of the British officials to extendinvitations. It was part of courtesies underprotocol. Newspaper played up an incident at adinner hosted by the Governor when one of theMinisters was accompanied by a woman insteadof his wife. The protocol is to avoid suchembarrassing situation.

My son Manohar returned from Holland via

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London, after playing in a tennis tournament. Hesaid people in London talked in a belittling mannerabout the Chief Minister for sporting an ear-ring.He said in the West they were called 'punks'. Ihad never discussed this with Rama Rao. However,I briefed him about what my son had told me andadvised him to remove it in view of the Queen'simpending visit. Fortunately, he heeded to myadvice, removed the ear-ring. On the whole, TheQueen's visit went off without a hitch.

To America again

Rama Rao left for the United States a secondtime in June 1984, again promising to garner NRIfunds for setting up industries in the State. Thistime he was accompanied by an intelligence officer.This man's and objective was to create a chasmbetween us and consequently drive me out of theCabinet. I had no enmity with him. He was onlydoing the job entrusted to him by ChandrababuNaidu. He was perhaps afraid that he might fallfoul of the Chief Minister if he did not obey hisson-in-law. I did not know how may raids he hadcarried out and collected money on Chandrababu'sinstructions. He belonged to the Orissa cadre, butI got him transferred to Andhra Pradesh duringChanna Reddy's tenure due to unrelentingpressure from the from the family of Rayanam ofEast Godavari district. Nice way of acknowledginggratitude, this officer. Later, he became Chairmanof the AP Public Service Commission.

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Y. B. Chavan, then chairman of the FinanceCommission, was in Hyderabad. Rama Rao and Iput forward the views of the State. A veteranpolitician, Chavan reported to Indira Gandhi thatno love was lost between us and that our relationswere rather odd.

Rama Rao nursed strong grievance againstofficers. He resented raids by Income Tax officialson the residences of film actors. I do not know if araid was ever conducted on his house.

I in my capacity as Finance Minister met theUnion Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, at theresidence of one Bulli Panthulu in Hyderabad. Letme place before the readers what transpired there.After discussing politics, he said 'Bhaskar Raoji,it seems you only have the majority followingamong the legislators' and left. Sometime later,Vijayabhaskar Reddy dropped in at the same placeand said 'You are the leader of the Kammas, notRama Rao. I learn this after talking to Kammasand general public. You are our hope'. He lulledme thus. Being basically a Congressman, I listenedto these words and left the place.

I went to Delhi once to seek central assistancefor drought relief. This was not to the liking ofRama Rao. I met Finance Minister PranabMukherjee who promised to release the funds, butadvised me to meet the Prime Minister also. Theywanted to know if I desired to meet her at the

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residence or in the office. I replied I would like tosee her in the office. The Prime Ministerimmediately sanctioned Rs 83 crores. So far sogood. She monitored the rumblings and dissidencein the Telugu Desam party from time to timethrough her intelligence sources.

'Bhaskar. Why does your Chief Minister speaklike that. He made a scene at the NationalDevelopment Council meeting by blaming me andleading a walk-out by other Chief Ministers. It hadnever happened before. What is this behavior?' sheasked me. She recalled that I left the Congress asit ignored my claim to become the Chief Minister.She wanted to know why, having set up theregional party and guided it to victory, I chose toallow Rama Rao to become the Chief Minister,forsaking my own claim. 'Should not the Statedevelop and prosper?', she asked.

'Madam, I am a Congressman from thechildhood. I have great regard for Nehruji and you.I formed the regional party in the best interests ofthe State. It would amount betrayal of the peopleif I or Rama Rao acted contrary to this spirit', Itold her. Rama Rao's unseemly conduct at theNational Development Committee meeting camein for all-round condemnation. I also told her thatI would not hesitate to loudly protest and partcompany with Rama Rao the moment he driftedfrom the regional party's philosophy, ideals andobjectives.

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'You meet Moopanar and others. Be in touchwith them. I will send Moopanar wherever youwant to meet him. Be cautious. Rama Rao seemsto have a cruel mentality. Keep this to yourself.Do not discuss this with anyone, particularly P. V.Narasimha Rao', she warned after listening to me.

Antagonising the Centre

The Telugu Desam rode to power and RamaRao became the Chief Minister due to changedpolitical re-alignments in the State. Emboldenedby this success, Rama Rao raised the pitch againstthe Centre and the Prime Minister Indira Gandhiin typical cinema style. Having come to power injust nine months in the State, he might havethought it was not difficult to repeat the feat atthe Centre and become the Prime Minister. Heindulged in cheap criticism of the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties at thenational level, frustrated by inability to oust IndiraGandhi, found a new Messaiah in Rama Rao. Theywere under an illusion that the Telugu Desamowed its stupendous success solely to Rama Rao.They did not know the men and women behindthe effort and the factors that contributed to thesuccess. Leaders of the national opposition partieswho ridiculed party started by a film star werenow eager to join his bandwagon. Sounds odd, doesit not?

Rama Rao telephoned from the United States

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asking me to visit riot-hit areas of the old city ofHyderabad and bring the situation there undercontrol. But the Chief Secretary would not allowme to go. Someone must have advised him to stopme. All the same, I and a few other ministerstoured the affected areas and took some reliefmeasures. The Chief Secretary did not implementthem. I wrote a letter to the Chief Ministerbringing this to his notice. It was not evenacknowledged.

Efforts were on to get me out of the Cabinet.In fact, a busy body even extracted a promise fromthe Chief Minister. However, Rama Rao had notcome to a decision yet. Having learnt the ropes ofadministration and the conduct of business in thelegislature from me, he might have decided todump me as no longer useful.

These things do happen in cinema world. Howlong would an assistant director continue underthe director? He would leave once he learnt thetrade. Similarly, Rama Rao must have decided topart company. I always wondered why he shouldforce me to join the Cabinet and now develop suchdislike for me. He could not stand my sight. Thenewspaper owner vigorously pursued his agendaof my dismissal from the Cabinet.

Flag-hoisting

The Chief Secretary issued orders to theCollectors to unfurl the tri-colour on August 15,

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citing instructions from the Chief Minister whowas still in the US. Nallapureddy SreenivasulReddy felt humiliated. He came to me with asuggestion that I should do something about it.He wondered how a senior Minister like me choseto remain silent. He sent the Chief Reporter ofIndian Express to me to pursue the matter. Howcould officials hoist the national flag onIndependence Day instead of the democratically-elected representatives of the people? SreenivasulReddy could not digest this. He asked me not totake it lying down. He asked me to take a boldstep and they would all stand by him. He sent theChief Reporter of Indian Express again.

On his way back home, Rama Rao stopped atMumbai. Chandrababu Naidu sent a handful ofMLAs to receive him at Mumbai. The idea was topoison his mind by carrying tales against me beforehe reached Hyderabad. I received him at theHyderabad airport, exchanged pleasantries andproceeded to the Secretariat to attend to my work.

My letter to the Chief Minister protestingagainst the decision advising the Collectors tounfurl the flag was consigned to the dustbin. Inthat letter I had mentioned that as electedrepresentatives of the people, the Ministers shouldparticipate in the flag-hoisting function.

Sack order

Angered by this, Rama Rao held discussionswith some Ministers and close associates and cameThe Downward Swing


to the conclusion that my action was improper.With Chandrababu Naidu adding fuel to the fire,a letter recommending my dismissal from theCouncil of Ministers was sent to the Governor.Several friends cautioned Rama Rao against thisstep and tried to dissuade him from acting on it.Rama Rao, immature as he was in politics, gavecredence to the tell-tale stories of the ChandrababuNaidu gang and decided to dismiss me.

Devilal was elected leader by parliament, buthe made V.P. Singh the Prime Minister andhimself became the Deputy Prime Minister. Thesame VP Singh sacked Devilal as the Deputy PrimeMinister.

A friend of mine telephoned from the RajBhavan to alert me about the letter recommendingmy dismissal. 'You formed the party, made himthe leader and put him on the throne. How can anactor, who by a turn of luck becomes chief minister,sack you? How can you just sit tight?' he asked mein his own style.

Having forced me to join his Cabinet, he nowconspired to lower me in the public esteem. Myblood boiled at this. I reached home and dashedoff the letter of resignation to the Governor andthe Chief Minister.

My letter of resignation and the ChiefMinister's letter recommending my dismissal wereboth before the Governor.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳

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Taking over as Chief Minister

1984

Three other ministers, S. Ramamuni Reddy,Mutyala Satyanarayana and T. Jeevan Reddy, quitthe Cabinet within an hour of my submitting theresignation to the Governor. The GovernmentChief Whip followed suit.

I had not made any move to garner support,yet no fewer than 90 MLAs rushed to me andoffered to stand solidly behind me. They werefurious with the Chief Minister for his cowardlyact of dismissing me. They signed a letterwithdrawing support to Rama Rao's leadership.Mine was the ninety-first.

The Rama Rao camp was rattled by thisdevelopment. He was perhaps complacent becauseChandrababu Naidu had assured him that notmore than a handful of MLAs would go with me.He vented his anger on Chandrababu Naidu in thefoulest language for misleading him. ChandrababuNaidu rushed to the New MLA quarters to herdthe MLAs into his fold, but I was informed thatthe party workers there assaulted him up.

The following morning the MLAs trooped to

chapter 11


my place before proceeding to the Raj Bhavan tomeet the Governor at the appointed hour. Ourmessage to him was brief and pointed. "We arewithdrawing our support to the Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao'. The pressmen were present. TheLegislature Secretary also was on hand to helpverify if my supporters were indeed MLAs. Ofcourse, the verification did not take place.However, the followers of Sreenivasulu Reddy andhis brother, who were among the signatories, wentback to the NTR camp. Yet we submitted the letterwith the 91 signatures. Some of them were once inthe Rama Rao Cabinet and the ChandrababuNaidu Governments. What can we say about suchmen of clay. They evidently lacked the morals, thecharacter and the commitment for the welfare ofthe public.

Things would have been different had theGovernor acted immediately on our representationand handed the Government to us. The delaycaused panic among the MLAs. We submitted therepresentation to the Governor on the morning ofAugust 15, 1984. The same evening, the DelhiStranger sought his appointment for 60 to 70MLAs backing Rama Rao. The Governor had notseen them. Had he done that, he would have knownhow many MLAs were with Rama Rao. TheGovernor, in that case, would not have put the 30-day deadline to prove my strength on the floor ofthe Assembly. The anti-defection law was yet to

Taking over as Chief Minister 1984


be enacted. Even if it were, it would not haveinvited the provisions of the law since 90 MLAsconstituting about 50 per cent of the total strengthof the party MLAs were with me.

Great Betrayal

Charan Singh had managed to become theChief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with the supportof only 40 MLAs and later became the PrimeMinister with some MPs from Chandrasekhar andVP Singh camps. Don't the so-called champions ofdemocracy remember this? They never faultedCharan Singh for doing this.

None had ever known, nor would ever know,how Rama Rao had betrayed me. Differentyardsticks are used to measure different people.The press was blatantly partisan. Is it not itsresponsibility to hear both sides before sitting injudgment? What will happen to the society if itsverdict is influenced by the press? The Governorexamined our letter withdrawing support to RamaRao and the letter supporting him. He invited meto form the Government as other opposition partiesalso extended support to me.

Invitation to form the Cabinet

The leader of the opposition, A. Madan Mohan,was at the Raj Bhavan. I told the Governor that Iwas not interested in hankering after the ChiefMinister's post. He could offer the invitation to



Madan Mohan. Our group would extend outsidesupport to his Government. The Congress highcommand rejected the proposal and advised theGovernor to invite me. What is wrong with this?How many times had it not happened in ourpolitics?

I and my people reached the Raj Bhavan thefollowing morning on the invitation of theGovernor. The opposition parties had submittedto him letters supporting me. The Governor haderred in granting an interview to Rama Rao at thetime of the swearing-in ceremony. Rama Rao andhis men blocked the Governor's way and preventedhim from administering the oath to me. TheGovernor then asked the Commissioner of Policepresent there to clear the way for him. TheCommissioner willfully arrested Rama Rao, puthim in the police van, got photographs taken andmoved all of them to the police station andregistered their names. This was a drama enactedby the Commissioner K. Vijayarama Rao, who laterbecame Minister in the Chandrababu NaiduGovernment. Rama Rao had admitted that he didnot enjoy majority in the Assembly. The Governorhad asked him to step down. Rama Rao had losthis majority and I gained it. There was no disputeabout it. There was nothing to fault the Governorfor.

Precious time was lost in the scene created byRama Rao and his men with the result that raahu



kaalam had set in. I was reluctant to take the oathon this count, but the Governor was firm. He saidthere was no Government at the moment and thatthere could not be any constitutional vacuum. TheGovernor administered the oath to me during theinauspicious rahu kaalam. It suited Rama Rao wellbecause he too, like me, had strong belief inastrology. He knew the Government, which tookoffice in rahu kaalam, would fold up on its own.

Police chief rapped

The Governor admonished the Commissionerof Police in my presence for mishandling themorning situation and bringing bad name for him.He also said the Commissioner acted thus togenerate sympathy for Rama Rao. I told theGovernor it was not the right thing to invite meon the one hand and to give appointment to RamaRao on the other hand, both at the same time. Anyway, we missed the golden opportunity of swearingin at the auspicious time. I was the only one totake the oath.

Well-wishers and friends advised me to hold acamp for the loyal MLAs to avoid poaching byRama Rao's supporters. I did not entertain the ideaas I thought it was not in my grain to resort tosuch mean and anti-democratic practices. I hadgreat respect and intrinsic faith in the integrity ofmy followers. I did not want to herd them in acamp. I had heard of such camps organised during



the gram panchayat and municipal elections wherethe members were taken to a secret destination,out of bounds of the rival group, and released afterthe crucial polling. I did not want to hold anyonecaptive. Those who wanted to stay with me coulddo so. If somebody wanted to leave, who was I tostand in the way?

We submitted our letter signed by 91 MLAs onAugust 15. The same day I was elected leader ofthe legislature party. The Governor did not act onthis until the morning of August 16 when heinvited me to form the Government as he wasconvinced that I enjoyed the majority. Theopposition parties too had given letters extendingtheir support. On August 15, when Rama Rao wasstill in the saddle, some MLAs who had signed theletter supporting me , were lured to the other sideand confined in his studios.

Political analysts had at the time averred itwas a great mistake, in fact, a historic blunder onmy part, not to have held the camp for the MLAs.They still hold the same view. I have clear viewsand convictions about politics. I had never enteredpolitics to seek high positions or accumulatewealth. My crusade against Rama Rao was onlyin line with my values and principles. Khadi dresssymbolised purity not many might know that I ama sanyasi in khadi. It was unconstitutional andundemocratic to hold MLAs in captivity.



NTR - ready to pack up and go

After the Governor invited me to form theGovernment, Rama Rao had no choice. He abusedChandrababu Naidu in foul language and madeup his mind to pack up and go back to Chennai.But leaders of some opposition parties restrainedhim. They infused courage in him to meet thechallenge. Rama Rao followers attacked the housesof MLAs loyal to me and destroyed their properties.Families were physically attacked. The unfriendlypress was also not spared. Shaken by thedevelopments, some of my MLAs switched loyaltiesand danced to the tune of NTR. They enjoyed royalcomfort in the enemy camp.

Newspaper reports and photographs showingRama Rao in a police jeep earned a fund of popularsympathy and goodwill for him. The newspaperbaron used his clout to mobilise the mediarepresentatives from New Delhi to come toHyderabad and put them up in luxury hotels. Hehad successfully brainwashed them to believe thatI and my Government posed a grave threat todemocracy and that Indira Gandhi was at thebottom of it all. The media-generated sympathycame ironically at the juncture when the gulliblepeople were getting fed up with the NTR's misrule.Rama Rao used his natural skills of acting andrhetoric to capitalise on the new-found sympathy.

The opposition parties planned a public



meeting at the Nizam College grounds on August17 to protest against the so-called murder ofdemocracy. The Commissioner of Police refusedpermission to Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidufor the meeting, perhaps to impress me ordemonstrate his loyalty. I summoned him andasked him to give the permission, saying in ademocracy everyone had a right to hold meetings."They may at the worst heap abuse on me. Letthem. What is wrong?', I told him.

A number of state and national leaders of theopposition parties attended the public meeting atthe Nizam College grounds. Among them wasChoudhury Charan Singh. Rama Rao turned upunshaven and dressed in lungi and banian,wearing a distinctly sick look. Charan Singh wasdisgusted by Rama Rao's antics and the dramaenacted at the meeting. He left the place annoyed.

The Great Delhi Parade

As a follow-up to the meeting, the captive MLAswere taken to Delhi to parade them in the nationalcapital. I was the Chief Minister at the time. If Ihad nursed any evil intention, I could have stoppedthe train, detained and held them captive. I couldhave seen to it that the train was deliberatelydelayed. Was I so helpless? As a democrat, I woulddo nothing of the kind. It was not in my grain. Idid not think that my supporters were so helplessthat they could not break out of Rama Rao's hold.



They might have other ideas. Who then am I toobject. If they were determined to stay with RamaRao, there was nothing I could do.

Instead of lodging them in the Andhra PradeshBhavan, the MLAs were taken to function hallsbooked by the BJP. They were accommodated thereuntil they were paraded before the President ZailSingh. Some MPs and MLAs from other Statessported AP badges during the show of strength tomake the President believe that they were all fromAndhra Pradesh. Around the same time, theGovernor Ramlal telephoned and asked me to cometo the Raj Bhavan with my MLAs. Some of mymen were on tour and some others defected toRama Rao camp. I went to the Governor with theavailable MLAs. He made a check of them. At theRashtrapati Bhavan, Rama Rao enacted the dramawith the support of the opposition parties todemonstrate his support to the President. Theopposition parties targeted Indira Gandhi in harshterms, as they saw her hand behind the conspiracy.

After the show at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, theMLAs were flown to Bangalore in special aircraft,bypassing Hyderabad, along with the so-calledsaviours of democracy like the opposition leaders,Rama Rao, his sons-in-law and their cronies. TheTDP managers then shifted the MLAs to Mysoreand again to the Nandi Hills like the cat whichmoves its kitten from place to place. The MLAswere put up in luxury guest houses and taken onsight-seeing trips.



The Constitution clearly lays down that in theevent of a Government losing its majority in theLegislature, the Governor has no option but toinvite another party or group enjoying majority.That being the clear legal position, it is wrong tocreate disturbances and enact dramas to whip uppublic sympathy. Rama Rao and his men soughtto create an impression that the entire oppositionparties stood behind him like a rock. It was alsowrong to entertain the view that the oppositionsupported him just because he was wronged. Theyhad other ideas.

Opposition has other ideas

The opposition parties had found IndiraGandhi too tough a nut to crack. They had neitherthe strength nor the guts to dislodge her. RamaRao's dismissal came in handy for them to mounta war against her. They wanted to shoot her fromRama Rao's shoulders. Poor Rama Rao wasblissfully ignorant of the opposition designs.

The question was not whether the Governor'sdecision was right or not. The opposition singledout Indira Gandhi for condemnation. If theythought I was wrong, they should criticise me, notIndira Gandhi who had nothing to do with thematter. This was a problem concerning a State.The Centre had nothing to do with it. There wasno need to blame the Governor, either. The anti-defection law was not in vogue. The MLAs had notdefected to another party. They had merely



replaced the leader while remaining in the sameparty. Yet the opposition condemned IndiraGandhi for masterminding the change in theleadership and the Government in the State. Theymade a big issue of it in Parliament and demandedthe recall of the Governor.

Atal Behari Vajpayee was among those leaderswho had raised a shrill demand for the recall ofthe Governor at the time. He became the PrimeMinister. He had no qualms to direct the BiharGovernor to induct Nitish Kumar as the ChiefMinister although he did not command majorityin the House. How could he justify this? Anyway,Nitish had to resign after failing the trust vote.Did Vajpayee demand recall of the BiharGovernor? No. Why then this doublespeak? Whatkind of rajneethi is this? This was not heard ofeven in the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana.

The MLAs returned to Hyderabad afterenjoying the hospitality of Ramakrishna Hedge inKarnataka. Some of them came back to me withsigned letters of support. Among them was theSpeaker Tangi Satyanarayana and the DeputySpeaker, Bhim Reddy. I was the Chief Minister atthe time.

Governor Ramlal was recalled, whatever thereasons. P. V. Narasimha Rao spoke to me on RAXand asked for my choice of his successor. Alreadytelevision was scrolling the news of Shankar Dayal



Sharma's appointment as the Governor of AndhraPradesh. 'You have decided to send Shankar DayalSharma. Why do you ask me? You appoint anyoneyou like', I replied in a mood of resignation.

Governor replaced

Shankar Dayal Sharma was no stranger to me.I knew him well. We met at the VIP lounge of theHyderabad airport. As Finance Minister I wasbound for Vizag. Sharma, who arrived to attend ameeting in Medak, waited for his hosts to receivehim. When none turned up, I arranged a car forhis use until he returned to Delhi. We met againin Delhi at a farmers' rally addressed by IndiraGandhi. Some worthies, who got wind of hisappointment as the Governor, carried tales againstme to Shankar Dayal Sharma. So, Sharma whocame here with a prejudiced mind, ordered me totake M. Baga Reddy as the Speaker. The Speaker'sand the Deputy Speaker's post became vacant afterSatyanarayana and Bhim Reddy joined theCabinet.

Normally, the senior most member of theHouse is chosen for the post of the presiding officer.When I took over as the Chief Minister, SultanSalauddin Owaisi was the senior most member.The Governor asked me to summon Baga Reddythen and there, without giving me time to ponderor even to discuss with the officers. I did not knowwhat the idea was. It was not fair to displease the



Governor who had just been appointed.Disagreeing with him could lead to unpleasantconsequences too. Accordingly, we opted for BagaReddy.

PV Narasimha Rao telephoned to ask whoadvised me to choose Baga Reddy. I explained thesituation to him in detail. He pulled me up forblindly following the dictates of the Governor.Vijayabhaskar Reddy also called me on phone tosay that I made a big mistake and that I shouldhave at least consulted him.

Meeting with Sanjiva Reddy

In spite of these pressures, I remained calmand carried on with running the administration.Meanwhile, riots broke out in Anantapur andpolice opened fire on the mob resulting in somedeaths. I flew to Bangalore by a helicopter anddrove on to Anantapur to restore peace and order.After taking necessary steps, I met the formerPresident Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and apprised himof the situation in graphic detail. Bhim Reddy,some MLAs from the district and others were alsopresent. He sympathised with my lot.

I explained to him the circumstances leadingto the formation of the regional parties, itsphilosophy and objectives, the choice of thecharismatic Rama Rao as the president and howhe had let down the ideals of the party andconverted the party and the Government into the



family pocket borough. Rama Rao pursued a single-point agenda of criticising Indira Gandhi day inand day out. The party manifesto clearly spelt outfriendly relations between the State Governmentand the Centre, whichever party was in power. ButRama Rao clearly violated this principle .By hisfoolish actions, Rama Rao had not only become alaughing stock but a dictator who would not listento anyone. I also told Sanjiva Reddy that the MLAs,fed up with Rama Rao's attitude and its bearingon the future of the party, became prepared toeffect change in the leadership of the legislatureparty as well as the Government. Under thesecircumstances , I had agreed to take over theleadership.

I requested Sanjiva Reddy to give elderlysuggestion to Rama Rao to free the MLAs fromhis captivity. They could choose their leaderwithout fear or favour, me or Rama Rao. I was notkeen on continuing as the Chief Minister. I askedhim to tell Rama Rao that holding MLAs captivewould amount to undermining the basic values ofdemocracy. 'If Rama Rao agrees to this, I willinstantly submit my resignation here and now', Ihad said.

' How sane and mature are your thoughts evenat this young age? Rama Rao is expected to call onme. I will talk to him', he assured me after listeningto my account. The same evening, we returned byhelicopter.



Rama Rao met Sanjiva Reddy shortlyafterwards. Sanjiva Reddy advised Rama Rao toset the MLAs free and that in a democracy, theywere at liberty to choose their leader. Rama Raobluntly told him that if he released the MLAs, theywould all go to me and that he would be in a soup.There was no question of setting them free, he toldthe aged leader.

Sanjiva Reddy later telephoned to me. 'You arecorrect. He is an obstinate fellow. He does not listento anybody. I told him to please himself'. He alsohad a dig at the press, the national and the Statelevel media, for distorting facts. He had neverheard of MLAs being held captive and forced tovote against their wish. These things happenedonly at the gram panchayat and samithi level. Itdid not behove Rama Rao or any leader to reducethe legislators to the panchayat level. He was muchanguished.

Governor prejudiced

As I said before, Shankar Dayal Sharma camehere much prejudiced against me by the wrongfeeding given by the Delhi Stranger and others.He viewed every action of mine with suspicion. Itwas quite improper on his part to advise me toprovide protection to such and such a person orpremises. I had never indulged in criminalactivities nor patronised them. People know whoencouraged Chandrababu Naidu or endorsed his



actions. It is natural for criminal minds to seeothers in the same light. I had suffered a lot at thehands of such elements, but never tried to harmthem.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



Setting the House in Order

I had initially inducted three Ministers to myCabinet and added some more after Shankar DayalSharma took over as the new Governor.

I want to place on record some significant stepsI had taken during the 30-day stint as the ChiefMinister. These were in the nature of setting thehouse in order after Rama Rao made a mess of itwith his puerile and immature decisions. Severalof these ill-advised measures adversely affected thecommon man and threatened to damage the futureof the Telugu Desam party. I took liberal steps tohelp all sections of the society, particularly theyouth and the poor.

It is my misfortune that the press saw red inevery action of mine and accused me of amassingwealth through corrupt means. It was clearlymisled by my detractors.

Government employees, particularly theteachers, had been the backbone of the TeluguDesam right from its inception and wereprincipally responsible for the party getting amassive mandate. But, within days of assumingpower, Rama Rao repaid the debt of gratitude in amost cruel manner by unilaterally reducing the

chapter 12


age of their retirement from 58 years to 55. Onestroke of the pen dealt a death blow to the employeefraternity. Overnight, they turned bitter enemiesof the party and the Government and waged abattle against this fascist measure. They boldlyfaced repression and harassment.

Recognising the need to win back the trust ofthe employees, I decided to revoke the monstrousgovernment order on retirement age and restorestatus quo. It came into force on August 23coinciding with the birth anniversary of AndhraKesari Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu.

Unholy Diversion of Funds

Popular sentiment and the concerns of devoteeshad no place in Rama Rao's heart where moneyalone mattered. He passed a draconian order thatthe Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) part30 per cent of its income, coming from the devotees,to the State Exchequer. This spurred angryreaction from the devotees not only from withinthe State but from all over the country. Theytermed it 'Tughlak act' and sought legal redress. Ibelieved that the Government had no business tointerfere in religious matters and revoked thisorder too. I fulfilled people's desire by restoringthe funds to the TTD.

The AP Dairy Development CooperativeFederation had over the years run into hugeaccumulated losses on account of misuse of fundsSetting the House in Order


and corruption during the Congress rule. To offsetthis, it periodically revised the milk prices withno regard for the purchasing capacity of theaverage consumer. The Telugu Desam, which cameto power, could not stem the rot and continued withthe same policies. Rama Rao ignored populardemand to reduce milk price. I conceded their justdemands by reducing the milk price by 30 paiseper litre.

Rama Rao Government had failed miserablyin implementing the Rs 2 a kg rice scheme for thepoor. Rice millers had a field day making crores ofrupees by diverting the stocks to neighbouringStates. This caused a severe shortage of rice within.The quota for green card holders was watereddown. Instead of 20 kg per month, it was reducedto only 5 kg per head. As soon as I took over, Iordered 25 kg per month per family regardless ofthe members. It provided much relief to the poorpeople.

Scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and backwardclasses students in the welfare hostels had beenagitating for a hike in mess charges for the past20 months. Rama Rao did little except to delivercinematic monologues to satisfy them. I raised themess charges from Rs 125 per month to Rs 175and the grant for high school students from Rs 85to Rs 100.

Lakhs of toddy tappers had been agitating for



years in support of their demands. They opposedauctions where toddy tappers cooperativesoperated. They argued that the cooperatives shouldhave the right to auction toddy in line with the'toddy for the tapper' principle. Veteran leaderGouthu Latchanna had even resorted to fast untothe death. At this juncture, I solved their pendingissues and rendered justice.

Lakhs of orphan children roamed the streetsbegging for food and in search of shelter. They leda life of hunger and hardship. Rama Rao waxedeloquent on their plight and promised to wipe theirtears. In effect, nothing was done. I sanctioned twoorphanages in every district and released funds.

DMM - an Instrument of Torture

The Dharma Maha Matra was another creationof the Devil's mind. This institution was aimed atbringing corrupt politicians including ministers,MLAs,and senior Government officials to the bookand punish them. This was in addition to 'the LokAyukta' constituted by an act of the Legislature.Rama Rao planned to use this agency to harasspeople inimical to his interests. Suspension of someofficials by the Dharma Maha Matra caused aflutter among the bureaucracy. Officers becamehesitant to take any initiative, resulting in gradualparalysis of the administration. Rama Rao hadproved he did not lag behind Tughlak in thisregard. As soon as I took charge, I buried the



Dharma Maha Matra fathoms deep, never tosurface. I restored the morale of the officers.

The minorities had played a key role in theTelugu Desam's rise to power which had promisedthem a bright future. But after coming to power,Rama Rao and the officialdom adopted anunfriendly policy of neglect. The party thusalienated the minorities. Another classic case ofburning the raft after crossing the stream. Iconstituted the 'Minorities Finance Corporation'and released adequate funds for its activities.

The old city of Hyderabad across the Musiinhabited mostly by the minorities remained asensitive area - backward, neglected and prone tocommunal tension. It also bred criminal activitiesthreatening peace and order in the area. At myinstance, a long-term development plan wasformulated for the old city. I sanctioned Rs 10 crorefor the purpose.

A lot of irregularities and malpractices tookplace in the publication of results and valuation ofexamination papers of 10th class and intermediatestudents in the year 1984. Confusion was worseconfounded by the malfunctioning of computers.This affected a large number of students and theirparents. Rama Rao rejected their repeated demandfor adding grace marks. I sanctioned 3 grace marksand raised the seat strength in colleges toaccommodate the successful candidates. It



benefitted thousands of students.

A large number of students moved out of theState to pursue engineering and other professionalcourses in view of very limited number of seatsavailable in the 13 engineering colleges in theState. They had to shell down lakhs of rupees byway of donation. Against this backdrop, Rama Raoenhanced the fees for engineering students by Rs5000 imposing a heavy burden on the parents. Inot only raised the number of seats to 245 butreduced the enhanced rate from Rs 5000 to Rs3000. I also gave 20 per cent quota of seats toprivate managements while withdrawing theannual recurring grant payable to them. Thisresulted in the saving of Rs 7 crores. By increasingthe seats to 245, I also saved an outgo of Rs 25crores to other States by way of donations and fees.

Fillip to Minorities

I was familiar with the old city's history ofcommunal clashes from my days as lawyer. Idiscussed the issue threadbare with intellectualsand concluded that education provided the key tothe problem. The misguided youth could thuschannelise their energies positively. Soon afterbecoming the Chief Minister, I was taken in a rallyto the old city and felicitated. Salahuddin Owaisi,the local MLA, and others pleaded for sanction ofmedical and engineering colleges. I hoped that thiscould help minimise communal violence and enable



the youth to change their ways, study and get jobs.As a follow-up, I asked concerned officials toexamine the issue in depth. They warned me thatif the colleges were given to the minorityinstitutions, the Government would not be allowedto interfere in their functioning in any manner.The Constitution provided for this safeguard. I sawno harm in giving the institutions completefreedom to manage their own affairs, moreso whenthe Government was not obliged to give any grants.Accordingly, I sanctioned the medical andengineering colleges for the minorities. Similarly,I sanctioned a medical college for the Christianminorities. In the past, Brahmananda Reddy hadallotted Government land in Darus Salaam areain Hyderabad for the Muslims. I also allotted 10to 14 acres of Government land in Saidabad tothem. I am happy to note that the Owaisi familyis running a hospital and an attached medicalcollege and engineering college in that area. I amalso convinced that there is a marked change inthe attitude of the Muslims and their relationshipwith the Hindus. This is a good sign.

This positive development is not by any meansdue to the efforts of the earlier CongressGovernments or of the NT Rama Raoadministration, but solely due to my initiative insanctioning these colleges. The Christianminorities also were given similar encouragement,but they could not make use of the opportunities.



The Telugu people are great cinema-buffs.Theatre-owners made hay on their weakness forthe silver screen. We all know that Rama Rao andhis relatives own a number of theatres in the State.He introduced the slab system which enabledtheatre owners to make a fortune while burdeningthe average cinema-goer. I provided relief to thecommon man by scrapping the slab system.

Sops to the farmer

I also scrapped the purchase tax of Rs 10 perton collected by the factory managements from thesugarcane growers and ensured that the moneyso collected was refunded to the farmers. Theincome from purchase tax was pocketed by thefactory owners.

Farmers and agricultural labour in the dryland areas suffered untold hardship on account ofthe acute drought in 1984. I provided succuor tothem waiving energy charges on 5 hp motors forone year. The drought also caused severe drinkingwater shortage. To tide over this situation, Iordered release of water from irrigation canals totanks and also to feed crops under these tanks. Ialso deferred collection of IMS loan dues untilMarch 1985.

The Rama Rao Government steeply increasedthe tax on tourist bus operators who passed onmuch of the burden on the passengers. MyGovernment reduced the tax from Rs 250 per seat



to Rs 150. This provided considerable relief to thetourists.

Thousands of freedom fighters had sacrificedeverything during the independence movement.Some of them later got elected to the LegislativeAssembly or to the Council. These leaders hadselflessly served the country without expecting anyreward. In recognition of their services, the ex-MLAs and MLCs were sanctioned a pension of Rs250 to Rs 500 per month. Rama Rao, who did notknow the meaning of sacrifice or the freedomstruggle, abolished the pension scheme one finemorning. He did not know how to honour or repaythe debt of gratitude to those patriots who hadforgone comforts of youth, wealth and life for thecountry. One can find close similarities betweenhim and Mohammed Bin Tughlak. I restored thepension to the former legislators.

Relief to artistes

Those in the field of performing arts, literatureand culture felt very happy at the elevation of oneof them - Rama Rao - to the high office of the ChiefMinister of the State. They saw golden visions of abright future with the fellow-artiste at the helmof affairs. This dream was shattered when RamaRao ruthlessly scrapped the various culturalakademis. Poet laureate Dasaradhi died of shockafter the post was abolished by Rama Rao. I revivedall the akademis as well as the post of the poetlaureate.Setting the House in Order


The Congress as well as the Rama RaoGovernment ignored the interests of Rayalaseemaon the issue of supplying Krishna waters toChennai. I issued orders that certain features ofthe Telugu Ganga project inimical to their interestswere removed. I also sanctioned Rs 10 crores tospeed up execution of the pucca houses for theweaker sections.

The Congress Government had appointedMuralidhar Rao commission to study the problemsof the backward classes which constituted 45 percent of the State's population. Years had passed,but the Rama Rao Government dragged its feet intabling its report in the Assembly or acting on itsrecommendations. Rama Rao, who had come topower with the support of the backward classes,forfeited their goodwill. I immediatelyimplemented its main recommendation of 25 percent reservations and offered to place the reportin the Assembly for discussion.

The annual all-India industrial exhibition,organised every year by the Telangana GraduatesAssociation, in Hyderabad is a popular eventdrawing people and traders from all over the Stateand outside. Government had leased what isknown as the Exhibition grounds to the ExhibitionSociety. The lease period expired in 1983, but theNTR Government refused to extend the lease andinstead, tried to reclaim the site. This had hurtthe sentiments of not only the people of Hyderabad



but of Telangana region as a whole. Rama Rao hadlittle time for others problems. His obsession wasto stage one drama or the other and to keep thepeople constantly on tenterhooks. I passed ordersrenewing the lease to the society, much to thedelight of all concerned.

Another decision was to enhance the ex-gratiafor the APSRTC employees from Rs 750 to Rs 1000.A number of B. Ed colleges were permitted to meetthe shortage of trained teachers and to improveliteracy rate in the State.

Houses sites to MLAs

The Congress Government had taken a policydecision to allot house-sites to legislators inHyderabad at concessional rate. Rama Raoabolished the practice causing deepdisappointment to the newly-elected MLAs of theTelugu Desam. I conceded their just demand andordered allotment of house-sites to the MLAs.

Rama Rao and his friends like the BJPinstigated violent attacks by hired goondas andanti-social elements on the houses of MLAssupporting me during the change of leadership. Isanctioned compensation to the legislators whoseproperty was damaged. Similarly, communaloutfits like the BJP utilised the Ganesh immersionfestival on September 9, 1984 to attack and destroythe properties of minorities. I sanctioned Rs 10,000as grant coupled with low interest loans to tradersSetting the House in Order


whose properties were damaged in arson. This wasnecessary to safeguard secularism.

I also scrapped the much hated detentionsystem in the colleges under Osmania University.This system was in vogue only in OsmaniaUniversity. Rama Rao ignored the demand for itsabolition. I conceded the students' demand. Afterall, I too was once a student.

Dispute over Flag

It is a well-known fact that the party symboland the flag were finalised by me, Rama Rao anda few others. After he was unseated as the ChiefMinister and I took over, dispute arose over theclaims for the party symbol and the flag. We wentto the court for justice. I was pained by theoutcome. The judge, who had heard the case andgave the verdict in favour of my opponents, lost notime in resigning his post and joining Rama Rao'scamp. He later got elected as the party MLA.

Good or bad times do not last forever. I heardfrom my followers and other people that Rajaiahhad confessed to my party men that as the judge,he had wronged me under the influence of temptingoffers of the other group. He was repentant.Hearsay accounts had it that Rajaiah was offered,in exchange for favourable judgment, a seat in theAssembly and the Finance portfolio in the Cabinet.He fell for it. Later, people in the know alsoconfirmed this. I am not attributing motive to theSetting the House in Order


court. I am only placing before the readers whathad been brought to my notice and what I believecould be true. The judge was, as promised, madethe party MLA, the Minister for Finance and laterMember of the Lok Sabha. What further proof wasrequired?

In spite of pressures and tensions natural tothe high office, I tried to run the administrationas efficiently and honestly as possible. I had anexperienced secretary in Sarma who used toprocess important files and put them up for mysignature.

The bore well story

One such file required special mention. A borewell was sunk in my private residence. The filecharging the expenditure to the Governmentaccount was on my desk. I referred it to the ChiefMinister since it was not proper to me to sanctionbore well in my own house. It remained pendinguntil it was put up to me, this time as the ChiefMinister. I ordered the file to be closed and thatmy wife would pay for the work. The ChiefSecretary and other secretaries present werehappy and desired that this was how theadministration should be. I appointed B. N. Ramanas the Chief Secretary during my tenure.

I was accessible to the officers and the visitors.The doors of the Chief Minister's peshi were alwaysopen. Several aggrieved officers met me to relateSetting the House in Order


their plight after being unceremoniously andunwarrantedly suspended or punished. Several ofthem suffered without salary. I directed the ChiefSecretary to look into the cases with sympathy andreinstate them in genuine cases.

Rama Rao was in the United States when theChief Secretary, Shravan Kumar, sent me a filefor approval. It related to constructing a helipadin Rama Rao's Gandipet residence for which Rs20 lakhs was necessary for works and another Rs40 lakhs for security and bandobast arrangements,that being the Chief Minister's residence. As theFinance Minister, I referred the file to the FinanceSecretary. The Finance Secretary noted in the filethat the rules permitted sanction of maintenancecosts only for one residence of the Chief Ministeror the Ministers. This being the second house ofthe Chief Minister, maintenance grants could notbe sanctioned.

Now, this was a sensitive and ticklish issue. Ireferred the file to the Chief Minister since theissue concerned him. This infuriated the ChiefMinister. He abused me, the Chief Secretary andthe Finance Secretary at an officers meeting.Chandrababu Naidu added fuel to the fire byfurther poisoning his mind against me. Thisfurther embittered the relations between us. I toldthe Chief Secretary I would always abide by therules and never violate them.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



August 1984 and the aftermath

The Centre had recalled the Governor Ramlaland appointed Shankar Dayal Sharma in his place.I expanded the Cabinet after some of theLegislators returned to my fold.

I had to choose Baga Reddy as the Speakerunder pressure from the Governor, but Baga Reddyleft the Assembly complaining of severe chest pain.I made Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, who was thenthe senior most member of the House, as theSpeaker. This meant that the House had to bereconvened for which, I was informed, at leastthree days notice was required. The 30-daydeadline given to me to establish my strength onthe floor of the Assembly would expire by that time.

The Governor spoke to me on the RAX phoneasking me to submit resignation having failed toprove my strength within the stipulated time. Ibriefed the Cabinet about this development. Wewere not at fault. Rama Rao had scuttled ourattempts to move the resolution on the trust motionin the House. Rama Rao insisted that theresolution be put to vote immediately withoutdebate, while I wanted the condolence motion betaken up first, as was the regular practice.

I went to the Governor with the resignation

chapter 13


letter, but urged him not to give the opportunityto Rama Rao since he had blocked the resolution.I suggested a brief spell of the Governor's rule withthe House kept in animated suspense paving theway for free and fair voting by the members. Hewas in no mood to listen. He was prejudiced againstme and my Cabinet.

Panic in the House

A tense atmosphere prevailed in the Assemblythat day. Bhim Reddy, MLA from Anantapurturned up with a pistol. I persuaded him to put itaway as it was a crime to come to the House witha firearm. He was shaking with anger at RamaRao and his rowdy gang who had caused extensiveloss and damage to his property, and threatenedto kill Rama Rao. I threatened to resign then andthere if he did not surrender the weapon. I grabbedthe pistol from him and led him into the House.Meanwhile, somebody burst a cracker, forcingadjournment of the House without taking up theresolution. There was no opportunity for freevoting. The Rama Rao camp won the day bycreating panic and projecting the action asexemplary and moral. Indira Gandhi also wasworried by these sordid developments.

Rama Rao held his MLAs in captivity inKarnataka and received them at the State borderand personally escorted them in a convoy of buses.This is something I am not capable of. Anaccomplished actor, Rama Rao excelled in real lifeAugust 1984 and the aftermath


acting too. He pretended to be a heart patient,weak and feeble, and conned gullible women intobelieving and sympathising with him. Some peopleeven planned to build a temple for him. He was agood actor, but never a fair minded person. Peoplebelieved him, because he came from the world ofmake believe. He had succeeded in projecting meas a villain and he as paragon of all virtues. Thelay public might fall for it, but those in the knowcould analyse and see what lay behind the mask.

Ultimately my Government resigned andRama Rao reinstated as the Chief Minister. RamaRao had till then walked with the aid of a stick, asif he would totter and fall down due to weakness.In the process, he attracted the attention of asympathetic public in and outside the Statethrough a friendly media. He cast off the stick andwalked with the characteristic majesty themoment he regained power. I was baffled how thepublic accepted this. The Governor declined togrant appointment to my representative whocarried the letter urging him to declare theGovernor's rule with the Assembly in suspendedanimation. One could understand the pressure onhim to install Rama Rao.

The reinstatement of a dismissed Governmentwas a strange phenomenon. The Union MinisterP. V. Narasimha Rao conspired against me. Hehad sent N. G. Ranga, KLN Prasad and YelamarthiNayudamma, director of central leather research



institute, Chennai to Indira Gandhi to plead onbehalf of Rama Rao. They assured Indira Gandhithat Rama Rao would never oppose her thereafter.Indira Gandhi, who seldom changed her mind oncea decision was taken, agreed to reinstate RamaRao. Thus PV's diplomacy succeeded. KLN Prasadpretended to be on my side during this drama.

NTR cringes before Indira

Rama Rao later met Indira Gandh in Delhi andexplained that he was new to politics and itsnuances. He promised her that he would not takea stand against her or the Central Governmentand fell at her feet. Who does not know this drama?What a u-turn for a man who had left noopportunity to berate Indira Gandhi. It goes toprove that for the sake of power, people stoop toany depths. For her part, Indira Gandhi appearednot to bother about the turbulent events, as if shehad forgotten or had nothing to do with them.

Indira Gandhi sensed that Rama Rao mightopt for dissolution of the Assembly and freshelections. In the event, nobody could have faultedthe Governor if he gave me an opportunity to formthe Government. But Rama Rao managed to getthe Assembly dissolved without much difficulty,thanks to the cooperation of some centralministers.

I tried to press my case again with theGovernor. He made me wait and sat with Rama



Rao in another room where he signed the order,thus dissolving the House within hardly 18 monthsand imposing heavy burden of fresh elections onthe people. This is the Governor's good sense. Hecame back to me and explained he was helpless asPC Alexander, the Prime Minister's Secretary, putpressure on him to act. Our elders ganged up toplay this sordid drama to malign me in the publiceye.

It never happened in a constitutional set-up,be it in the country or in any State, that aGovernment was dismissed while the oppositionleader held the MLAs hostage and the same leaderformed the next Government and won the vote ofconfidence. I do not know what democraticprinciples and norms were applied in the case.After assuming power, Rama Rao reversed someof my decisions and eased out my officers. Heimputed corrupt motives to me. This is a clearjaundiced view. Who does know how Rama Raostacked his ill-gotten wealth in cinema cans?

I had not amassed wealth by corrupt means. Iconstructed houses and acquired house-sites andfarms solely from my income as lawyer. Aftercoming to politics, I sold away properties from timeto time. I had not taken money from anyone.Whatever came to me as election funds went backto the people. I had not pocketed a single pie. Onlya corrupt man like NTR sees red in others.

With the sole intention of undermining my



popularity with the masses and finishing my veryexistence, Rama Rao ordered two commissions ofinquiry into charges of abuse of power andacquisition of properties by corrupt means. Boththe commissions, one headed by a retired judge ofthe Supreme Court and the other by a former judgeof the High Court, did not indict me on any count.The Krishna Rao Commission noted that I as theChief Minister should not have permitted theGanesh immersion rally to proceed viaMoazzamjahi Market. Regulating the rally was thePolice Commissioner's job, not the Chief Minister.The officers might have failed to brief the judgeproperly.

Krishnaiah, a retired judge of the SupremeCourt, was a great fan of Rama Rao, whom hedescribed as a 'Messaiah'. When such a person wasappointed as the commission of inquiry against me,I went o the court and got relief. Meanwhile, theterm of the commission ended. Another judge wasappointed at his instance, but that again was afiasco. I was thus protected by the God's grace.

Attack on Studios mooted

Many of my MLA had suggested that we attackRama Rao's studios and free the MLAs held captivethere. Even the Governor Shankar Dayal Sharmamade such a suggestion. I summoned some seniorofficials for their view. What they said left me crest-fallen. They said if the attack was mounted, about20 MLAs would be killed and apart from that,August 1984 and the aftermath


Rama Rao's men in the studios were ready withswords and other weapons. I did not quite knowwhether to laugh or cry. I asked the Commissionerwhy he hesitated to bring back my MLAs from thecustody of Rama Rao. He told me bluntly it wasnot their job.

I was anguished by his attitude. I brought himto Hyderabad from the naxalite-affected forestareas in the fond hope that he would be of greathelp to me. I appointed him as intelligence officer.To my misfortune, he acted as intelligence manfor Rama Rao, Chandrababu Naidu and the DelhiStranger.

I was in a miserable plight like the pitiableelephant in distress in Gajendra Moksham. I hatedmyself for trusting such people. Why should Icontinue as the Chief Minister when I could notprotect my own MLAs. I became philosophic anddecided not to proceed with the attack on thestudios. OK. Let the MLAs who signed theirsupport to me vote freely in the Assembly, nevermind if they did not vote for me, I thought.

Some of the MLAs, held captive in the studios,later said I should have gone ahead with the attackon the studios in which event they would come outin my support. They also told that the police haddeliberately misled me about the danger of MLAsgetting killed during the raid. The police was handin glove with Rama Rao.



I was not obliged to convene the Assemblywhen a good number of MLAs were held captive.Instead of taking the line that the House couldnot be convened unless the MLAs were freed, theGovernor in his wisdom chose to call for myresignation for failing to prove my majority withinthe deadline. Rama Rao took over the reins ofpower. We MLAs set off on a tour of the State toexplain to the people how the press had distortedthe facts and painted me as the villain of the piece.The Governor was the foremost among the peoplewho advised me to hold my supporters together.Chandrababu Naidu and his men persistently puthurdles in our way by feeding the media with falseinformation about the impending enquiries againstme.

Meetings disrupted

Our first meeting was in Tirupati. Afterdarshan of the Lord, we reached ChandrababuNaidu's Vishnupriya Hotel where welcome archesfestooned with chappals greeted us. At Alipiri,Chandrababu's brother, Ramamurthy Naidu andhis men rained stones on our convoy and abused awoman member in foulest language. We reachedthe venue of the meeting where a large crowd hadgathered to hear us. Ramamurthy Naidu and hisgang set fire to the stage and let lose a reign ofterror. Chandrababu Naidu masterminded theplan from Hyderabad by keeping in touch with thepolice and his men. We staged a protest dharna



before the police station. Next day, we organisedthe meeting at the same place. A good crowd waspresent. Fearing that we would expose theirmisdeeds, Chandrababu Naidu and his hirelingstried to create problems wherever we scheduledmeetings while police looked the other way.

Indira Gandhi was in Hyderabad when wereturned from Tirupati. A number of party leadersand others met her. M. M. Hashim, who was aMinister in the Channa Reddy Cabinet, wonderedwhy Indira Gandhi had chosen to install RamaRao. She could at least have opted for theGovernor's rule. She held PV Narasimha Raoresponsible for the decision saying he gave her ascary account of the episode leaving her no choice.Hashim briefed me about this conversation indetail.

At Warangal, a leader who became Ministerby my grace led the attack on our meeting. I washit by a stone. A few others were also injured. Wegot the wounds stitched in hospital. I mocked atthe Collector and the Superintendent of Police fortheir handling of the law and order situation. TheNalgonda meeting went off well. TheVisakhaptanam meeting was a resounding successdespite stone-pelting organised by a hotel magnate.China Kapu and his associates organised a massiverally at Subrahmanyam Maidan in Rajamundry.A Minister boasted that my bones would be brokenif I dared to come to Eluru. I took up the challengeand went there. I personally saw the



Superintendent of Police, other senior officialsdirecting stone-pelting by anti-social elements. Ahuge stone was hurled at me with an intention tofinish me. It hit my leg. The police and the rowdiesjoined hands in an unholy alliance. The oppositionparties condemned the incident and demandedthat the Government not disrupt our meetings.They tried to wash their hands saying 'what canwe do. The people are teaching them a lesson'.

The same fate visited Rama Rao whenChandrababu Naidu backstabbed him. He stoodisolated with none to support or sympathise. Thesame opposition now backed Chandrababu Naiduto the hilt. We do not know their motives. I ammentioning this to underscore that retributioncatches up with the sinners sooner or later.

Detention at Guntur PS

We received rousing welcome at Vijayawadaby 'Nagaralu', the backbone of the Congress in OneTown area. An estimated two lakh people gatheredat the venue the following morning. The local policewas given strict instruction to see that the meetingdid not take place at any cost, even if it meantopening fire to disperse the crowd. AdusumilliJayaprakash, the local MLA who supported me,was detained by the police. I was prevented fromthe reaching the dais in view of the law and ordersituation. Lathi-charge was resorted to dispersethe crowd. Well. This was the great heroic act ofChandrababu Naidu.



At Guntur, the whole district assembled for mymeeting. I was detained at the guest house andtaken to the police station. I was not allowed toaddress the meeting. The enraged mob turnedagainst the police. We cannot forget the supportextended by Gadde Rattaiah and his wife,Krishnaveni. Some rowdies at the instance of aprominent BJP leader, who became a centralminister later, put up used chappals andbroomsticks across the welcome arch. Suchshameless characters are passing off as greatleaders in our great democracy.

One newspaper ran a tirade against me withmissionary zeal. It called upon the people to greetme and my men with chappals and broomsticks.What else is this if not brazen abuse of the freedomof the press? They successfully scuttled my meetingin Guntur.

We reached Hyderabad via Nagarjunasagarthe following morning for a meeting with theGovernor at 9:30 a.m. It could not materialise onaccount of the shocking news of the assassinationof Indira Gandhi. The Governor rushed to Delhi.We too followed. The whole nation mourned herdeath.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳



The Congress Home-coming

We, sixty to 70 MLAs, proceeded to Delhi andwitnessed the last rites of Indira Gandhi. Ibroached the idea of joining the Congress party atthat juncture, but my MLAs shot it down andinsisted that we maintain our identity as aseparate group. Otherwise, I would have talked toRajiv Gandhi and joined the Congress party thesame day.

Meanwhile, Assam went to the polls. N.T.Rama Rao campaigned for the Asom GanaParishad. There was no change in his attitude.Indira Gandhi was no more. Emboldened by this,he resumed his attack on the Congress with aneye on the Prime Minister's seat.

Rama Rao successfully conspired to get theAssembly dissolved, after the death of IndiraGandhi. Rajiv Gandhi desired my group be givensome tickets, but some State leaders colluded withPV Narasimha Rao and others to sabotaged it. Ihad no option but to float the 'Prajaswamya TeluguDesam party' and contest the elections. We knewwhat the outcome would be, yet we went to thepolls on a matter of conviction and principle. Butthe people could not bless the party, mesmerised,as they were, by the cinematic approach of NT

chapter 14


Rama Rao who projected me as a demon in theeyes of the public.

In some places, democratic practices weresubverted. Rigging, intimidation and othermalpractices were resorted to ensure that I inparticular did not win at any cost. In the Malakpetconstituency, where I contested, the police enforceda curfew-like situation to discourage voters. In thebooths where they feared I got more votes, theyswitched off lights to replace the ballot boxes withempty ones. The police officers brazenly sided withRama Rao who rewarded them suitably.

Chandrababu Naidu was elevated as generalsecretary of the party in 1986 around the timeelections were held to the Municipal Corporationof Hyderabad. The ruling party resorted to riggingand other malpractices. Kandula Sivananda Reddyof Cuddapah was caught with bombs. The BJP hadprepared a 100-point charge-sheet against RamaRao and spurned his offer of seat-sharing for thepolls. Angered by this, Rama Rao in his campaignlikened the BJP to the mongrels which craved forthe left-over food.

Series of Setbacks

Setbacks stared the Government in the eye.The Supreme Court ordered immediate paymentof compensation to the prematurely retiredGovernment employees. Village officers showedlittle interest in their work. Influential sectionsThe Congress Home-coming


were gradually distancing themselves from theTelugu Desam and the Government. Law andorder situation deteriorated. The subsidised ricescheme became a failure. The Revenue Minister,NallapuReddy Sreenivasul Reddy , was sackedunceremoniously. His only crime was to questionthe authority of Chandrababu Naidu.

Annoyed by the dismissal, Sreenivasul Reddywent to the town with serious personal allegationsagainst Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu. Heaccused Chandrababu Naidu of collecting Rs 2.45crore from the arrack bottling syndicate for the1984-85 elections and also from the GodavariPlywood company. Another allegation related tounauthorised acquisition of 177 acres of land inNellore district. He and Harijan MP, Penchalaiah,toured the State campaigning against Rama Raoand his son-in-law.

Dronamraju Satyanarayana had filed writs inthe High Court leveling 107 charges against RamaRao and Chandrababu Naidu. The High Courtfound prima facie evidence in respect of sevencharges and directed a comprehensive probe. TheState Government filed a special leave petition inthe Supreme Court which reserved its judgment.One of the judges on the bench, Justice SavyasachiMukherjee, met with untimely death.

Row with the Governor

After Shankar Dayal Sharma successfully



completed his work, he was succeeded byKumudben Joshi as the Governor. Rama Rao madea number of written complaints to the Presidentagainst her. A resolution of the Assembly advisingher to limit the Raj Bhavan expenditure wasforwarded to the President. The Chief Minister hadreason to do this. He was angered by the Governortaking her own sweet time to act on the fileappointing Chandrababu Naidu as the chairmanof the Karshaka Parishad and made a big issue ofit. The High Court struck down the appointment.When Rama Rao's plans to appoint JusticeRajendranath Agarwal as the Lok Ayukta failed,he had planned to scrap the very office. But theHigh Court struck down this order too. Strangely,Justice Agarwal was on a three-membercommission of inquiry appointed by the StateGovernment to look into the charges leveledagainst Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu. Theother too on the commission were Sundaresan, aretired IAS officer, and G.V. Chalapathi Rao, aretired Accountant General.

Rama Rao was quite annoyed by the GovernorKumudben Joshi's frequent complimentaryreferences to the Rajiv Gandhi Government at theRepublic Day speech in 1988. He suspended seniorofficers, Santhanam, Muralidhar Rao, B. Danam,AVS Reddy for allegedly tendering advice to theGovernor. Pavitran, a senior IPS officer, was alsosuspended in a similar fashion. He confronted the



Governor on the issue of appointing vice-chancellors.

On one occasion, the Governor summoned theChief Secretary, Shravan Kumar, to admonish himin front of other officers for failing to make properarrangements during the Prime Minister's visit.It was said those days that Shravan Kumar wouldlisten to none except Rama Rao.

Too pro-active

Another point of friction was the Red CrossSociety, of which the Governor was the chairpersonand the Chief Minister the vice-chairman. RamaRao did not like the efficient and pro-activeinvolvement of Kumudben Joshi in running theSociety. Her Secretary, V. Chandramouli, was alsoactively involved in the work. Rama Rao did notlike the Governor making extensive tour of thedistricts. Kumudben Joshi revived 'Chetana', asociety started by her distant predecessor, SharadaMukherjee, to help eradicate the socially evilsystem of Jogins prevalent in Telangana. TheTelugu Desam leadership frequently complainedto the President about her activities and describedher as 'the handmaiden of the CentralGovernment'.

Rama Rao cast aside norms of governance andindulged in cheap gimmicks which might haveimpressed the lay public, but left the intellectualsdisgusted. Rama Rao sensed that his and the party



prestige was plummeting in the wake of theKarshaka Parishad fiasco. He felt a big gimmickto divert the attention of the people alone wouldsalvage the situation. He used his birthday in 1988to dazzle the public. The city was dotted with hugecinema cut-outs showing him in mythological andother roles. Hoardings tracing importantmilestones in his life were erected. Billboardsdisplaying his photographs, horoscope and otherpersonal details were seen everywhere in the city.'Desh ki Neta NT Rama Rao' banners fluttered atthe venue of the celebrations. The week-longcarnival was summed up by Amarnath K. Menonin 'India Today'. The public show, as stated before,was to get over the uneasy feeling of the party andthe leader losing popular appeal.

Rama Rao renamed his studios, spread over14 acres of government land at concessional price,as horticultural gardens to circumvent the landceiling law and get exemption under the law.Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu was on a tour ofthe State, accompanied by Ministers. Although notholding any position in the Government, he calledthe shots everywhere, reducing the Ministers tomere dummies.

NTR Stumped by Delhi Stranger

At the national level, the Delhi Stranger busiedhimself bringing together all non-Congress forcesincluding the BJP and trying to dislodge the



Congress Government at the Centre. He hadsuccessfully organised opposition conclaves inVijayawada and other cities outside AndhraPradesh. I did not attend these conclaves as Istrongly believed that a regional party shouldrestrict its mandate to the State and maintaincordial relations with the central government.What started as the demand for more powers andcentral assistance reached the stage where theopposition parties made it a single point agendato bring down Indira Gandhi Government. Verysoon, the non-Congress Front split in two - one, acombination of the Janata Dal (U), the Congress(S), Democratic Socialist Party, RashtriyaCongress and some other splinter groups and theother , the National Democratic Alliance of the BJPand the Lok Dal. Rama Rao was the chairman ofthe pre-split National Front and V.P. Singh itsconvenor.

Devilal became the Chief Minister of Haryanain 1987. He and others put up Justice V.R. KrishnaIyer as the candidate for the presidential elections.However, R. Venkataraman, the Congressnominee, had won. Meanwhile, Rama Rao's dreamsof becoming the Prime Minister were fading away.Rajiv Gandhi moved VP Singh from the Financeto the Defence and finally out of his Cabinet. Thisdevelopment led to VP Singh, Arun Nehru, MuftiMohammed Sayeed, Arif Mohammed Khan,Chidambaram gravitating toward the Front. They



raised the weapons deal issue and allegedkickbacks in the purchase. The AP Bhavan becamea nerve centre for the activities of the oppositionparties. Buoyed by the success of the DMK in theTamil Nadu elections, the opposition members ofthe Lok Sabha resigned en masse to force earlyelections. Rama Rao's outbursts against RajivGandhi backfired. Newspapers condemned hisutterances and branded him as a separatist. TheNewstime had said in its editorial in October 1989'we deem it our duty to expose Rama Rao and thathe is a menace to the unity of the country. Therewas no place for people like Rama Rao who termedthe Centre as a 'myth'.

Rama Rao rushed to the Rashtrapati Bhavanwith great enthusiasm for the swearing-inceremony of V. P. Singh, hoping that he would bemade the Deputy Prime Minister. Instead, Singhmade Devilal the Deputy Prime Minister andaccommodated the Delhi Stranger in his Cabinet.Rama Rao stormed out of the Rashtrapati Bhavanat being passed over for the Deputy PM's position.He attributed the setback to manipulations by theDelhi Stranger.

PV and Rama Rao had cordial relations rightfrom 1984. Rama Rao believed that PV wasinstrumental in his reinstatement as the ChiefMinister. There was an unwritten understandingbetween them - to prevent me from becoming theChief Minister at any cost.



Rama Rao did not put up any candidate againstNarasimha Rao in the Lok Sabha by-election inNandyal in 1992. He had ready explanation to thepeople for not opposing Narasimha Rao. He saidthe people had the rare opportunity to make aTelugu man as the Prime Minister. It was a boonfor the State to have a Telugu man at the helm inDelhi. But the real reason was to repay the debt ofgratitude to Narasimha Rao for his help. Thegullible people swallowed the explanation.

The honeymoon between the two came to anend after Narasimha Rao's election. The game wasover since each had helped the other. An astutepolitician and master strategist, Narasimha Raowent on to split the Telugu Desam parliamentaryparty to retain his majority in the Lok Sabha. Thusboth vied for the 'best back-stabber' title.

Rama Rao was nervous about facing theAssembly. Added to this fear was the sustainedattack by opposition leaders like M. VenkaiahNaidu and S. Jaipal Reddy cornering him onVishnupriya Hotel owned by Chandrababu Naidu.The Chief Minister found himself on the mat. Asfar as my knowledge went, it was a poramboke landwhich Chandrababu Naidu got allotted to a man orcreated papers to that effect and purchased it fromhim. With the issue snowballing into a majorcontroversy, Chandrababu Naidu sold the hotel tothe chairman of the Cuddapah zilla parishadchairman. The whole issue was hushed up.



Back in the Congress

I joined the Congress party, along with thecadre, in 1989 at the instance of Rajiv Gandhi.Channa Reddy became the president of the PCC asecond time. I was in Delhi when Rajiv Gandhitelephoned to me to contest from the VemuruAssembly constituency. I went to the GandhiBhavan to collect the B form, but Channa Reddy'sadvisers handed me B form to contest, instead fromTenali. People who did not want me in theAssembly thought I would lose in Tenali, butcontrary to their expectations, I had won with abig majority.

The Congress won the elections and ChannaReddy formed the Government. Rajiv Gandhitelephoned to Channa Reddy recommending myname for inclusion in the Cabinet. Channa reddywas averse to the idea. I too was not very keen,having been a Minister and even Chief Ministerbefore. I turned stoic in the light of thesedevelopments and lost interest in politics. RajivGandhi then sent me to Karnataka as the partyin-charge. I busied myself with the politicaldevelopments in Karnataka.

The former chief ministers were seated on thefront row, as per protocol, at the swearing-inceremony of the new Governor, Krishan Kant, atthe Raj Bhavan. The protocol officer escorted NTRama Rao to his seat next to mine. Finding me



there, he literally jumped, like a startled gazelleon seeing the tiger, and ran out to another row.He pulled the former Speaker, P. RamachandraReddy, from his chair and sat down, three rowsaway from me. The gathering roared in laughterwhen Brahmanda Reddy told Rama Rao 'Come on,man. I am here. Bhaskara Rao will not harm you'.Rama Rao did not respond, pricked as he was byguilt of betrayal.

Square One

It was back to square one in the State. ChannaReddy stepped down within a year. Another mancame in his place. People were disheartened bythe Congress game of musical chairs. People gaveme a big mandate in Tenali, but I could not live upto their expectations of the petty local politics andgroupism. As a MLA, I had undergone eyeoperation at Government cost. When anotheroperation became necessary, the Chief MinisterK. Vijayabhaskar Reddy refused to bear theexpenses on account of paucity of funds.

I had mentioned before that the commission ofinquiry appointed by the Rama Rao Governmentinto charges against me found me not guilty.Strangely, the Congress Chief Minister N.Janardhana Reddy decided to go in appeal againstthe verdict of the commission. I could notunderstand why Janardhan Reddy harassed me,the party legislator, in this manner. I had never



sought any favour from him. Vijayabhaskar Reddy,who succeeded him, ordered his Commercial TaxesMinister, K. Bapiraju, to carry out raid on Orchidrestaurant run by my son. I came to know thisfrom none other than Raju himself. My own partyseniors had harboured so much jealousy andhatred for me.

I was also aware that PV Narasimha Raorepeatedly branded me in front of the Karnatakaleaders as a 10, Janpath loyalist. At the time ofVijayabhaskar Reddy taking over the ChiefMinister a second time, some of my friends wantedme to throw the hat in the ring. Narasimha Raohad commented that I could spread my tentaclesfar and wide in just one month as the ChiefMinister. If I were given an opportunity to rule fortwo and half years, neither the Congress party norits leaders would be left, even for 'sample'. Wellthat was his opinion of me.

The rot set in again in the State. Three ChiefMinisters were replaced. The Congress becameweaker after Vijayabhaskar Reddy took over.Unfortunately, the day Vijayabhaskar Reddy wasnamed the Chief Minister, the party men in theState saw the writing on the wall and sang, in theirhearts, Jana Gana Mana! The Telugu Desamleaders celebrated the occasion exchanging sweetsto herald the impending return of the party topower. I was unable to understand why the partyleadership effected frequent changes of the chief



ministers without regard to the sentiments of thepeople. He could not also understand the logic ofan 'apara chanakya' like P V Narasimha Raosending Vijaybhakaskar Reddy to the State againas the chief minister.

The Congress was routed in the Assemblyelections and even many stalwarts, intellectualsand the seemingly invincible leaders bit the dust.

I bat for Sonia

Meanwhile, elections to the Lok Sabha alsowere round the corner. I wondered if the Congresscould win with an aged leader like Sitaram Kesrias the party president. I went to Delhi andimpressed upon the high command the need to turnover the leadership reins to Sonia Gandhi if theparty had to win. I did some pretty tough talking.I knew that the top leaders were at one time orthe other chief ministers who did not see eye toeye on any issue and often wrangled amongthemselves. The party would not able to offer aunified face to the people. I resigned from the partyin a mood of frustration and returned. One dayGeorge Fernandes dropped in to take over his partyin the State and contest the Lok Sabha electionsfrom Tenali. He said I could join the BJP also, inwhich he would talk to Vajpayee. I told him that Iwas basically a Congress man. It was not an easydecision to join any other party. It required athorough introspection. Later I went to Delhi and



told Fernandes I would remain with the Congressand not join his party or the BJP.

Sonia Gandhi, who came to know of this, feltvery happy and asked me to join her pressconference. I said the party had become enervatedand lifeless under the leadership of Sitaram Kesriand unless the baton was handed to Sonia Gandhi,there was no salvation for the party. The Congressparty's survival and future was linked to itsassociation with the Nehru family. Other seniorsin Delhi and former chief ministers and unionministers picked up the thread and forcefullydemanded that Sonia take over the leadership.

Sonia's call to contest polls

Sonia Gandhi's secretary telephoned from 10,Janpath to convey her wish that I contest the LokSabha elections from Vijayawada as I was familiarwith the constituency. The party did not want tore-nominate the sitting member. Vijayawada waspolitically a highly sensitive and volatileconstituency. I represented to the high commandthat I may be allowed to contest instead fromTenali where a large number of relatives, well-wishers and friends lived and his native villagewas part of the constituency. Ignoring my request,the high command allotted Tenali seat to P. ShivShanker, a rank outsider, simply because a goodchunk of voters belonged to his caste and that hewould on the strength of the party image.



The party leaders asked me to contest fromKhammam, known citadel of the communists.Their calculation was that the constituency had alarge number of voters belonging to my caste. If Iwon fine, if not the defeat could be attributed thedominance of the communists. I agreed to contest.An untoward incident took place in Hyderabadwhen I went to Khammam to file nominationpapers. A youth congress leader, who failed to getthe party ticket for the same constituency , raidedthe Gandhi Bhavan with his supporters and setfire to the furniture. I wondered if this would affectmy prospect. I took the plunge regardless and cameout winner. Two reasons could be attributed to myresounding victory, the first, voters'disenchantment with the communists and thesecond, my own complete identification with thepeople. I was nominated to a parliamentarycommittee and this brought me into closer touchwith Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress party had voted with otherparties in the no-confidence motion against theBJP Government. Subrahmaniam Swamy ofChennai was the spirit behind the move, havinginfluenced Jayalalithaa to withdraw her supportto the Vajpayee Government. When theGovernment fell, some people egged on SoniaGandhi to stake claim before the President to formthe next Government. But Mulayam Singh, LalooPrasad Yadav and leaders of some other partiesrefused to back her claim. In effect, the Congress



could not form the Government. Consequently, thehuge burden of another election fell on the public.

I expected that we all would be allotted thesame seats, but I was instructed to contest fromthe Secunderabad parliamentary constituency. Ilost. I knew I would. Some consolation that I polled4.15 lakh votes.

I used to meet Sonia as executive member ofthe parliamentary party. She hinted that shewould send some X as president of the PradeshCongress Committee. I told her party prospects inthe elections would be bleak under his leadershipand cited reasons for it. 'No. no. We all have towork together for victory'. The Congress wasdefeated in the elections.

Later she called me and gracefully admittedher mistake. Sometimes were compelled to takecertain decisions knowing well the consequences.My defeat in Secunderabad rankled. I was unableto digest the defeat. I wanted to contest fromTenali, the high command asked me to contest fromKhammam and when I won from Khammam, theyshifted me to Secunderabad. The high commandhad to bear the cross for this, victory or defeat. Irefrained from active participation in partyprogrammes, except when specifically invited to ameeting.

In these circumstances, I turned to books forsolace. I found shelter and comfort in my library.



Settling scores with Delhi Stranger

Meanwhile, having got Sreenivasul Reddy outof their way, father-in-law and son-in-lawcombination targetted the Delhi Stranger forapplying the axe. Both of them were furious withhim for not only worming his way into VP Singh'sCabinet, but scuttling Rama Rao prospects ofDeputy Prime Minister. The Delhi Stranger wasno less smart. Thus the game of one up-man shipbegan. Chandrasekhar formed the Governmentafter VP Singh stepped down. It was during hisrule that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Later,PV Narasimha Rao assumed the reins of theCongress party and the Government with thesupport of Sonia Gandhi. His was a minorityGovernment. With the help of a Rajya Sabhamember, he could lure some TDP MPs to his sideand continue in office.

Even while maintaining proximity to RamaRao, the Delhi Stranger managed to split the partyMPs and with the help of Chidambaram, led thebreak-away MPs to support Narasimha Rao'sGovernment. Newspapers provided saturationcoverage to these developments. The DelhiStranger thus outwitted the wily ChandrababuNaidu. Chandrababu looked for the right momentto strike back.

His master plan was to get complete hold overthe party by reducing Rama Rao to a mere puppet,



after eliminating any challenge to his authority.The first blow was aimed at me, the founder of theparty, then Sreenivasulu Reddy and now the DelhiStranger. He went to Delhi and used his clout withthe leaders there to coolly pull the carpet fromunder the feet of the unsuspecting and complacentDelhi Stranger, who was eased out of the Ministry.

After the death of his wife, Rama Rao becamea loner, isolated and neglected by his own sonsand daughters. It did not matter that he was theChief Minister. He married again. The presscovered these developments in detail those days.

Chandrababu Naidu was alarmed by thegrowing influence of the second wife on his father-in-law even as one newspaper ran the campaignthat the Chief Minister was reduced to a merepuppet in the hands of the woman who ran theaffairs of the State by proxy. Rama Rao did nothingto erase this impression. Ensnared by her, he couldnot contain her growing interference ingovernment and party matters. History andpuranas are full of such episodes. Party workersand the legislators were worried by the uneasydevelopments. The press added to their fears.While on a tour of West Godavari, Rama Rao saidit would nice to have woman as the chief minister.This caused ripples in political circles as well as inthe general public. Rama Rao's sons and daughterswere yet to cope with the bereavement. The MLAsseethed with anger at the leader's actions.



Chandrababu Naidu succeeded in bringing thesediscontented people together. Even the elder son-in-law, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, who hadlittle love for Chandrababu, joined his bandwagon.

Revolt brewing

Chandrababu Naidu successfully moved thedissident MLAs to Hotel Viceroy as a safe havenfor his activities. The hotel was owned by P.Prabhakara Reddy, son of the Janata Party leader,Babul Reddy. He also planted stories in the mediathat Rama Rao had received money for revisingthe arrack policy and for awarding contracts forpower projects. A furious Rama Rao made up hismind to sack Chandrababu Naidu, but held himselfback for the sake of his dear daughter.

Chandrababu Naidu exhorted the MLAs thatRama Rao could not be tolerated any longer andthat he should be dislodged. The MLAs wereimpressed by his concern for the party, for the sakeiof which he was prepared to bring down his ownfather-in-law. They were ready for the kill. Lookat the picture in Visakhapatnam. ChandrababuNaidu loyally followed Rama Rao on his tour,pretending to be loyal and totally unaware of thesordid conspiracy. Back in Hyderabad, he sent fiveor six ministers to Rama Rao with a message thatthe party was unhappy with his ways and that heshould change them. Or else, they would nothesitate to bid goodbye. His eyes red with anger,



Rama Rao threatened them that he would dissolvethe Assembly.

The son-in-law gave an exhibition of politicalacumen. He deftly used Rama Rao's threat to notonly hold his flock together but roped in moreMLAs to his camp in Hotel Viceroy. Rama Raocould not understand the abrupt u-turn taken bythe hitherto friendly press. The newspapers, whichhad glorified him in the past, wrote nasty reportsand editorials against his political and evenpersonal life. He was like a caged tiger. He couldnot digest the people detesting him in such amanner. The people had once worshipped him asa demigod in whom they saw Lord Rama, thepoorna purusha. They could not stomach theirRama marrying another woman. Rama Raosuddenly fell in their eyes.

Snubbed by own party

Rama Rao and wife drove in the ChaitanyaRatham to the Hotel Viceroy and made a moving ,emotional appeal to the MLAs to come out. TheTelugu thammullu responded with stones,chappals, boos and catcalls in filthy language. TheMLAs gave him a fitting lesson for what he did in1984. The coupled grieved over its lot. Even themost powerful Ravana met his end because ofweakness for woman. It was uncommon for thenew-found solidarity in a family, as witnessed inRama Rao's. The underlying motive was to protect



property and other interests from falling into thehands of the second wife. While sons and daughterswere angry at the second marriage at this age, thesons-in-law and daughters-in-law burnt withjealousy at the prospect of Rama Rao bequeathinghis legacy - power, position and property - to hisnew wife.

The Governor directed Rama Rao to prove hisstrength on the floor of the Assembly. In a fit ofemotion, he submitted his resignation, but filed awrit in the High Court that he had not resignedand continued as the Chief Minister. Rama Raofailed to prove his majority. Chandrababu Naiduwas installed as the Chief Minister. TheNandamuri family was satisfied with the inductionof NTR's son, Harikrishna, in the Cabinet. RamaRao leveled serious charges of corruption againstChandrababu Naidu at a press conference. He alsosaid Chandrababu Naidu amassed wealth to a tuneof Rs 200 crores and demanded 'cut' from the peoplewho met the Chief Minister.

I rued the day I invited Rama Rao to enterpolitics and my party. He lacked moral values andintegrity, totally at variance from the charactershe had portrayed on the silver screen. He betrayedme, hijacked my party, my prestige and projectedhimself as a Messaiah and me the villain. He couldnot face me politically. He misled the people withhis rhetoric.



Points to ponder

When my supporters withdrew support to hisGovernment, Rama Rao made a big fuss thatdemocracy was murdered in the daylight. He hitthe streets whipping up public sentiments andmobilising all opposition leaders in the country inhis support. Why did he not rouse the peopleagainst Chandrababu Naidu who in a mostimmoral manner seized both the party and theGovernment from him? Why did he not callopposition leaders for help. Because, blood isthicker than water. Chandrababu Naidu was, afterall, his daughter's husband. What did the big fallof this once powerful man show. That his time wasup and it was time for him leave. That was themessage of Destiny. None was exception. Arjuna,for all his valour and skills of archery, waspowerless when Lord Krishna urged him to protectHis men. Had not the Lord Himself met the end atthe hands of a Boya?

I was hurt when Advani addressed me'Bashiruddin' to express his displeasure at mysanctioning engineering and medical colleges tothe Muslim minorities. I took it in my stridebecause Advani is a honourable man and anintellectual. The great Vajpayee had to stand guardat Rama Rao's studios to protect the captive MLAs.Where have all these gone when ChandrababuNaidu unscrupulously overthrew Rama Rao as theChief Minister? The BJP and the left parties had



cried wolf that I was a blood-thirsty villain, bothin thought and action. What happened to themwhen Chandrababu Naidu backstabbed Rama Rao.How many people had not tarnished my image andpelted stones just to please Chandrababu Naiduand become Ministers.

Inspiration for the book

The readers are familiar with one version ofthose days' events. This humble effort of mine isto present to the readers other side of the storywhich remained obscured so far. It is only to clearmy name that I am placing the facts before you.Analyse and come to your own judgment. I swearby the God that I had never intended to betray thepeople of the State or entertained such thoughts.I had never resorted to corrupt or immoral methodsto acquire wealth or had favoured my sons orrelatives to further business interests. I had notmisused my office to secure jobs for my sons or tohelp them get rich.

Was it wrong for me to assume leadership when90 legislators raised a banner of revolt against theChief Minister Rama Rao's style of functioning. Ihad led the revolt because I felt it was justified. Istarted the regional party, nurtured it and earnedfame and name for Rama Rao. I offered leadershipto Rama Rao as I wanted to capitalise on hisimmense popularity for the party's victory in theelections. I had advised Rama Rao to refrain taking



erratic actions and decisions and correct himself.He did not heed to the advice. When the 90 MLAscould not bear Rama Rao's autocratic behavior andrebelled against him. I assumed leadership of therevolt.

Unfortunately, the revolt was viewed in awrong perspective. Backstabber is one who stayswith the leader and betrays him. I resigned fromthe Cabinet and stood up to Rama Rao, unlikeChandrababu Naidu who pretended to be loyal toRama Rao and yet ditched him. Initially thecommunist parties backed Chandrababu Naidu tohilt and later the BJP sailed with him. A formerUnion Minister, who once threatened to bindChandrababu in chains and put behind the bars,happily hobnobbed with him and shared the samepublic platform many times.

I have come across many people in the journeyof my life who had let me down or had harbouredjealousy and hatred in their heart. I am watchingthe course of their lives.

✳ ✳ ✳ ✳ ✳


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Walking With Destiny- Nadendla Bhaskar Rao

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