Krishikar Lok Party (Peasants People's Party) was a political party in the

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

, India, which existed from April to June 1951. The KLP was formed when Acharya N. G. Ranga separated from the

Hyderabad State Praja Party Hyderabad State Praja Party, a political party in the Hyderabad State. HSPP was formed in 1951 when Tanguturi Prakasam and Acharya N. G. Ranga broke away from the Indian National Congress. In April 1951 Ranga broke away and formed the Krishi ...

. KLP contested

1952 Madras Legislative Assembly election The 1952 Madras State Legislative Assembly election was held on 27 March 1952 to elect all 375 members of the Legislative Assembly of Madras State (present-day Tamil Nadu). They were the first elections held in the state following Indian inde ...

and won 15 seats. In 1959, N. G. Ranga, along with

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...

, broke away from the Congress party and established the

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly so ...

due to their dissatisfaction with Nehru's increasingly socialist policies, including the implementation of land reforms and cooperative farming processes. Ranga assumed the role of its first president of the

History

The Krishikar Lok Party (KLP) was founded by N.G. Ranga, who left the Congress after losing the 1951 election for Congress president. Dissatisfied, Ranga, along with Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu, formed the Praja Party and attended a

Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (''Farmer Worker People's Party''), or Praja Party for short, was a political party of India. Established in 1951, it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party in the following year. The A ...

meeting in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

. During the formation of a sub-committee, Prakasam's name was included, but Ranga's followers' request to include his name was ignored. Dissatisfied, Ranga left the Congress and established the KLP with support from followers in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. Key members of the party like Kandula Obul Reddy, Peddireddy Timmareddy, Gouthu Latchanna, Bharati Devi, V.V. Ramana, N.V. Naidu, Chegireddi Bali Reddi and Paturi Rajagopala Naidu were instrumental in implementing the party's program.

1951 by-election

The State convention of the party took place in

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality, and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama, and hence, it is called "Andhra ...

in 1951, drawing a large crowd. The party decided to participate in the Duggirala by-election, putting forward Ancha Venkateswarlu as its candidate with high expectations. Venkateswarlu was defeated by Congress candidate, Meduri Nageswara Rao.

1951 Lok Sabha elections

KLP contested the 1951 Lok Sabha elections, winning one seat for the party from the Bharatpur Sawaimadhopur constituency.

1952 General election

In the 1952 General Elections, the party fielded candidates, including N.G. Ranga and his wife Bharati Devi, in key constituencies but only managed to win 19 seats. None of the seats were secured in

Krishna district Krishna district is a district in the Coastal Andhra region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is surrounded on the East by Bay of Bengal, West by Guntur district, Guntur, Bapatla distric ...

and

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

, where the party was popular. Neerukunda Rama Rao won a seat in

East Godavari district East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajamahendravaram. Geography This district is surrounded by: * North East: Alluri Sitharama Raju district * North West: Eluru ...

due to his personal reputation. The remaining 18 seats came from

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census, it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaan ...

and

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

in one corner of the state and Chittoor from another corner. Timma Reddy and Gouthu Latchanna were important elected candidates. The Krishikar Lok Party played an important role in the Madras State Legislative Assembly by supporting

in forming the ministry.

1955 Andhra State Legislative Assembly election

In the 1955 Andhra State Legislative Assembly election, an alliance was formed among

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, Praja Party and KLP, resulting in KLP winning 22 seats. Following the election, upon

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

's request, Ranga merged KLP with the Congress party. He was elected to the Congress in the 1957 general election from the Tenali Lok Sabha constituency.

Notable figures

* N. G. Ranga * Yadlapati Venkata Rao * Gouthu Latchanna * Chowdary Satyanarayana * Villuri Venkataramana * N. V. Rama Rao * Kandula Obul Reddy * Paturi Rajagopala Naidu * Bharati Devi Ranga

References

Defunct political parties in Andhra Pradesh Political parties established in 1951 1951 establishments in India Political parties disestablished in 1951 1951 disestablishments in India Conservative parties in India {{India-party-stub