Kallur Subba Rao was an Indian freedom activist and politician. He was a scholar in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and a teacher by profession. He was born in Kallur near Hindupur Taluk,

Anantapur District Anantapur district, officially Ananthapuramu district, is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located in Anantapur city. It is one of the driest places in South ...

. His Father's name was Sri Surappa and his mother's name was Smt Puttamma. Kallur Subba Rao was born on 25 May 1897, and was the first person to start the Congress Movement in

Rayalaseema Rayalaseema (IAST: ''Rāyalasīma'') is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It comprises four southern districts of the State, from prior to the districts reorganisation in 2022, namely Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa, and ...

. He studied up to 12th standard. When Subba Rao was 17-year-old, he attended a meeting hosted by

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

. Thereafter, he started participating in other such meetings and became an active member of

Indian Freedom Struggle The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He was imprisoned for 7 years as a freedom fighter. After Indian independence, he was elected as a Member of

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

from

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

Presidency. Afterwards, he was awarded

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 1967. He was a great poet and a very good orator. Rutherford, the then collector of Anantapur District, used to call him the "Lion of Congress". Dr. Rajendra Prasad used to call him the "Prison Graduate" because Subba Rao was a great reader of

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

and Bhagavatha. He was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly three times. He was an Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) General Secretary. He died on 20 December 1973. A Special Cover on Sri Kalluri Subba Rao was released in Hindupur Division by Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle on 18.12.2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Kallur Subba 1897 births 1972 deaths Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Telugu politicians Indian schoolteachers People from Anantapur district Deputy speakers of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian educators Educators from Andhra Pradesh