Bezawada Gopala Reddy

Bezawada Gopala Reddy Biography

Bezawada Gopala Reddy was an Indian politician in the pre-independent and post-independent era of Andhra Pradesh political history. He rose to prominence soon after Indian independence, and also served as a member of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. He served as Chief Minister of the erstwhile Andhra State during 28 March 1955 – 1 November 1956, till Andhra Pradesh state was officially declared after unification of India. Like many Indian states Andhra Pradesh was born on 1 November 1956, and Reddy served as CM till then. He also served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh during 1 May 1967 – 1 July 1972. He was a member of Indian National Congress.

Bezawada Gopala Reddy was born on August 5, 1907 in Nellore, Madras Presidency, British India. Now his birthplace is a part of Andhra Pradesh state. Gopal Reddy and his wife studied at Santhiniketan for some time, and during that time he was heavily influenced by the works of Rabindra Tagore. In fact he translated a few of Tagore’s works to Telugu language, and hence nicknamed Andhra Tagore. Bezawada Ramachandra Reddy - a prominent politician of the Justice Party and one of the founders of the Swatantra Party belongs to his family.

Bezawada Gopala Reddy’s active political career began in the early 1930s. He was a Member of A.I.C.C. since 1931. He got elected as an MLA of Madras Presidency in 1937. He was the Minister of Local Administration in Government of Madras during the period 1937–39. In 1947 he was elected as Finance Minister. Post-independence, he moved to national level politics and became an elected member of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Got elected to Lok Sabha in 1962, he was appointed as Minister of Revenue and Civil Expenditure Government of India in 1958–61 and Minister for Information and Broadcasting 1962–63.

Published: November 29, 2018

Updated: November 29, 2018