It was in September 1971 that Kasu Brahmananda Reddi (KBR), the longest-serving Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh at the time, stepped down in the aftermath of the Telangana agitation, which had seen nearly 370 persons killed and thousands injured in police firings.
At the peak of the movement, he had tendered his resignation in June 1969, but the Congress high command rejected it. Two years later, when he had almost weathered the storm, party president and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi decided it was time for KBR to go. The latter, however, was not inclined to oblige.
Indira Gandhi was not amused when Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy, then Finance Minister, publicly stated that no force on earth could dislodge the Chief Minister so long as he enjoyed the support of the legislators.
According to investigations by the authorities, more money had been collected from rice millers in the State for the Congress party fund than what was officially shown. Mrs. Gandhi also did not forget that Brahmananda Reddi had ignored her summons to come to Delhi, citing a critical law-and-order situation in the State.
He received another snub when she arrived in curfew-bound Hyderabad without his prior knowledge. He was informed only after the Prime Minister’s aircraft had taken off from Delhi. R.J. Rajendra Prasad of The Hindu, writing in Frontline, recalled that the Prime Minister told KBR that many people felt he should resign in light of the allegations.
KBR asked her what her own view was. Mrs. Gandhi replied that she too thought he should resign. And so, he did.
Another version suggests that a dossier against him was deliberately placed on the coffee table in the ante-room where he was seated, waiting to meet the Prime Minister. He got the message and readily agreed to quit.
His successor, P.V. Narasimha Rao, met a similar fate. Delhi was unhappy with his handling of the separate Andhra agitation. The Prime Minister sought to convey a highly confidential message to the Chief Minister through a Central Intelligence officer.
Noticing the presence of a woman politician in the Chief Minister’s chamber, the officer gently indicated that he needed to speak in private. “Don’t worry, it’s all right,” the CM reportedly assured him. The officer left without delivering the message and reported the matter to headquarters. Mrs. Gandhi lost no time in imposing President’s Rule in January 1973.
It is quite another matter that Narasimha Rao—whom some believed had failed as Chief Minister—went on to be recognised as one of the finest Prime Ministers the country has had.
Tailpiece: PV’s humour
Addressing a literary meeting at the Sri Krishnadevaraya Andhra Bhasha Nilayam, Narasimha Rao once posed a question: How did India gain independence from the British? Answering it himself, he said the Viceroy had attended a meeting where an Indian leader spoke English so atrociously that it played havoc with the language.
The Viceroy, he joked, immediately dashed off a telegram to the Home Secretary:
“It is time we packed up. They are killing our language. We must leave before it is too late.”
Seeing the writing on the wall, the British Government promptly announced the grant of independence.
“So that was how we got freedom,” PV concluded—leaving the audience in splits.
