Vavilala Gopalakrishnayya (1906 – 29 April 2003) was a legislator in the 1950s and 1960s and religiously followed the Gandhian philosophy.

Biography

Born in 1906 at Sattenapalle in Guntur District of Andhra, he started his career as a journalist but became involved in the freedom struggle. After Independence, he was elected to the assembly of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

in 1952, the

Andhra State Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...

assembly in 1955, and the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1962 and 1967 from Sattenapalli. On all four occasions, he was elected as an independent with the support of the undivided Communist Party of India. He was also associated with the cooperative movement and the library movement in Andhra Pradesh. In his long political life, Vavilala participated in almost all major agitations in the state, including the Vishalandhra movement for the formation of Andhra Pradesh in the mid-1950s, the Nandigonda project agitation in Guntur, and farmers' agitations. He also participated in the anti-arrack agitation and the movement for total prohibition in the state in the 1990s. Vavilala was chairman of a state-level implementation committee for total prohibition before the ban on Indian-made foreign liquor was relaxed in 1997. He was also chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Official Language Commission. Andhra University honoured him with the award of Kalaprapurna. He was also conferred the title of Padma Bhushan by the central government.

Individual Satyagraha and Quit India Movement

During the 1940's Vavilala Gopalakrishnayya participated in Individual Satyagraha in Guntur Town Hall in Andhra Pradesh.

Awards

*Kalaprapurna (honorary doctorate),

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

*1992:

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopalakrishnayya, Vavilala 1906 births 2003 deaths Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Politicians from Guntur district Telugu politicians Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1962–1967 Journalists from Andhra Pradesh Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh Madras MLAs 1952–1957 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1957–1962 Andhra Pradesh MLAs 1967–1972