Potti Sreeramulu Biography 
Potti Sreeramulu is best remembered as the martyr who achieved the present day Andhra Pradesh by sacrificing his life on hunger strike in December 1952. His struggles helped Telugu speaking people of South India to get a unified state, declared by Nehru three days after his death, which was finally formed on 1 November 1956 by merging the Andhra state with the Telugu-speaking areas of the already-existing Hyderabad state. Thus Sreeramulu is the father of the united Andhra Pradesh, and was revered as Amarajeevi for his sacrifice.
It’s really unfortunate that nearly 6 decades after the sacrifice of this young man to fulfill the dreams of a unified Telugu speaking state, the region later headed to split into two states - Telangana and Seemandhra. This Indian revolutionary was known for his fasting ability, for which once Gandhiji once commented that he would have won the struggle against British if he get eleven followers like him.
Potti Sreeramulu was born on 16 March 1901 into a family of Padamatapalli, then a part of Madras Presidency in British India. The place then belonged to Nellore district and the family later shifted to Madras due to famine. Guravayya and Mahalakshmamma were his parents. His early education was done at Madras. He later studied sanitary engineering from Mumbai, and worked with Great Indian Peninsular Railway in Mumbai. In 1928, Sreeramulu lost both his wife and new born child and he left his job and Mumbai to reach Sabarmati ashram, where he got involved with freedom struggle movement.
He was jailed during 1930 Salt Satyagraha. He also participated in Quit India Movement, and got imprisoned again thrice. He was involved in the village reconstruction programmes in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. His idea to spread charkha textile-spinning in Nellore district was widely well received. For dalits he conducted fast three times in between 1946 and 1948. After Indian independence, to preserve the culture of Andhra people he kept continuing his struggles and sacrificed his life for the benefits of his people. Jatin Das was yet another person who lost his life the same way.
Published: September 04, 2018
Updated: September 04, 2018
