Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya (24 November 1880 – 17 December 1959) was an Indian independence activist and political leader in the state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. He was also the first governor (1 November 1956 – 13 June 1957) of Madhya Pradesh.

Early life and education

Born in Gundugolanu village,

Krishna district Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the ...

(now part of

Eluru district Eluru district is a district in coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Eluru as its administrative headquarters, it was proposed on 26 January 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty six districts in the state once ...

) in

to a Telugu Niyogi Brahmin family, Pattabhi graduated from the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous insti ...

, fulfilled his ambition to become a medical practitioner by securing a M.B.C.M. degree.

Career

Medical and early political career

He started his practice as a doctor in the coastal town of

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

, headquarters of Krishna District and the political centre of Andhra. He left his lucrative practice to join the freedom fighting movement. During the years 1912–13, when there was a great controversy over the desirability of forming a separate province for

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, he wrote a number of articles in "The Hindu" and other journals explaining the need for immediate formation of linguistic provinces. At the Lucknow session of the Congress in 1916, he demanded the formation of separate Congress circle for Andhra. The demand was opposed by Mahatma Gandhi, but as

Tilak In Dharmic culture, the ''tilaka'' ( sa, तिलक) () is a mark worn usually on the forehead, at the point of the Ajna chakra, or sometimes another part of the body such as the neck, hand, chest or arm. ''Tilaka'' may be worn daily or for ...

supported Pattabhi, the Andhra Congress Committee came into existence in 1918. He was a member of the Working Committee of the Congress for a number of years and the President of Andhra Provincial Congress Committee in 1937–40.

Publications and imprisonment

He ran for the presidency of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

as the candidate closest to

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

, against

Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

Tripuri Tripuri refer to: *Tripuri people, an ethnic group in India and Bangladesh, also known as Tipra people **Tripuri language **Tripuri nationalism **Tripuri calendar **Tripuri culture **Tripuri cuisine **Tripuri dances **Tripuri dress **Tripuri games ...

Session of 1939. He lost owing to Netaji's rising popularity and the belief that Pattabhi favoured the inclusion of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

-majority districts in a future

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

state in independent India. Serving on the

Congress Working Committee The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It typically consists of fifteen members elect ...

when the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

was launched in 1942, Pattabhi was arrested with the entire committee and incarcerated for three years without outside contact in the fort in

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

. During this time he maintained a detailed

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

of day-to-day life during imprisonment, which was published later as ''Feathers and Stones''. He is also the author of ''The History of the Congress'' published in 1935 with an introductory note given by the

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

. His other popular publication was ''Gandhi and Gandhism'' .

High office

He ran successfully for Congress presidency in 1948, winning with the support of

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

, the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

. He was a member of the J.V.P. Committee (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi) which formally rejected the reorganization of states on linguistic lines but after a 56-day hunger strike by

Potti Sriramulu Potti Sreeramulu (IAST: ''Poṭṭi Śreerāmulu''; 16 March 1901 – 15 December 1952), was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. Sreeramulu is revered as ''Amarajeevi'' ("Immortal Being") in the Andhra region for his self-sacrifice for ...

the formation of Andhra State without Madras City took place. Prior to this he served as a member in the Constituent Assembly, in 1952 he was elected to Rajya Sabha. Pattabhi also served as the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

from 1956 to 1957. Scan10014-Enhanced-Colorized

Andhra Bank

With the financial support of Srimantu Raja Yarlagadda Sivarama Prasad Bahadur, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya established

Andhra Bank Andhra Bank was a medium-sized public sector bank (PSB) of India, with a network of 2885 branches, 4 extension counters, 38 satellite offices and 3798 automated teller machines (ATMs) as of 31 March 2019. During 2011–12, the bank entered t ...

on 28 November 1923 which is currently one of the major

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with ...

s of India. Its present headquarters is located at Hyderabad. The head office of Andhra Bank, "Pattabhi Bhavan", is named after him. He also started Andhra Insurance Company, Krishna Jilla Co-Operative Bank in

Krishna District Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the ...

Bhagyalakshmi Bank. As announced by Govt of India on 29 August 2019, Andhra Bank is being merged with Union Bank of India and Corporation Bank on 1 April 2020 and thus losing its exclusive identity.

References

External links

Pattabhi's biographyFreeIndia.org – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitaramayya, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Presidents of the Indian National Congress Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh Governors of Madhya Pradesh Telugu politicians 1880 births 1959 deaths People from Krishna district Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh Prisoners and detainees of British India Andhra movement