Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili

Raja Sri Ravu Svetachalapati Sir Ramakrishna Ranga Rao KCIE (20 February 1901 – 10 March 1978) was an Indian politician and zamindar who served as the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 5 November 1932 to 4 April 1936 and 24 August 1936 to 1 April 1937.

Ramakrishna Ranga Rao was born in the royal family of Bobbili zamindari in 1901. He succeeded his father Venkata Kumar Krishna to the throne of Bobbili and ruled as zamindar from 1921 to 1948 and as the titular "Raja of Bobbili" from 1948 to 1978. He set up trusts and patronized sports and education.

Ramakrishna Ranga Rao joined the Justice Party in 1930 and was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly. He served as the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 1932 to 1936 and 1937. He resigned as First Minister in 1937 when the Justice Party lost the elections. From 1946 to 1951, he served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India which framed India's Constitution. In his later years, he also served a term as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly for the Bobbili assembly constituency.

Ramakrishna Ranga Rao married Lakshmi Subhadrayamma in 1921. He had a son Venkata Gopala Krishna Rao who succeeded him as Raja in 1978. Ramakrishna Ranga Rao is mostly remembered for his contribution towards framing India's constitution and for his service to society in establishing colleges. He is also held responsible by analysts for the defeat of the Justice Party in the 1937 assembly elections which is blamed upon his despotism and anti-people measures.

Early life

Ramakrishna Ranga Rao was born in Bobbili in Madras Presidency (now a part of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh) in the Bobbili royal family. He was the son of the heir-apparent, Venkata Kumar Krishna Ranga Rao of the Bobbili zamindari. He had an elder sister Victoria Venkata Ramanamma, born on 10 October 1899.

In his childhood, he was tutored by H.C. Leclare, D. Gordon, F.H.J. Wilkinson and Ramalingaswamy. He used to play badminton and billiards in the palace.

Ramakrishna married Lakshmi Subhadrayamma, a princess of the Tallaprole Zamindari in 1921. He succeeded to the throne as the 13th Raja of Bobbili. Gradually, the leadership of the party passed on from Naidu to Bobbili. When both his ministers in the cabinet resigned, Naidu was forced to step down as First minister.

Tenure as First Minister

Ramakrishna Ranga Rao's Cabinet Portfolio Minister Local Self-Government Raja of Bobbili (Also First Minister) Development, Public Works and Registration P. T. RajanEducation, excise S. Kumaraswami Reddiar (1934–1936) Rajah Muthiah ChettiarHome Mohammad Usman (1932–1934) A. T. PanneerselvamSource: Encyclopaedia of Political Parties

The Raja of Bobbili became the First Minister on 5 November 1932 at the age of 31 and except for a short span of 4 months when he was on a trip to England, served as First Minister until 1 April 1937. During his tenure, Madras was in the grips of the Great Depression. The Raja did introduce some measures in order to relieve the burden on the poor peasant. But by and large, the rapid depreciation of the economy remained unchecked and the government showed little concern towards the plight of the poor peasant. The Justice Party lost badly in the 1937 elections. The Raja's policies are believed to be the main reason.

Revival of the mayoralty

The Mayoralty of Madras came into existence when the Corporation of Madras was established in 1688. The first mayor was Nathaniel Higginson, who resigned after a period of six months to take over as Governor of Madras. The post of mayor was abolished in 1801.

The post of mayor was revived by the Raja of Bobbili government on 17 January 1933, by the City Municipal Act. The first mayor after its revival was the prominent Justice Party Leader, K. Sriramulu Naidu who was followed by Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar. However, the Raja of Bobbili adopted contingency measures by immediately convening a meeting and conducting negotiations between the different factions of the party. The Swarajya Party which won a majority in the Assembly once again refused to form the government in accordance with its policy of wrecking the dyarchy. So, the Raja of Bobbili was elected First Minister for a second term though he did not command the majority of the house.

Justice Party stalwarts R. K. Shanmukham Chetty and Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar had lost their seats as the chief whip of the party, Rajah Muthiah Chettiar withdrew his support for their candidature. Ramakrishna Ranga Rao responded by dismissing Rajah Muthiah Chettiar as the leader of the party in the Assembly. Muthiah moved a no-confidence motion against the ministry but the motion was defeated. However, the differences between the Raja of Bobbili and Muthiah Chettiar was soon patched up and the Raja made the latter a minister in the cabinet.

Changes in the ministry

S. Kumaraswami Reddiar resigned his ministry post due to ill-health in 1936 and he was replaced with Rajah Muthiah Chettiar in a move to wipe out differences in the party. Mohammad Usman served as the first Minister of Home followed by Sir A. T. Pannirselvam.

Separation of Ganjam district

On 1 April 1936, the Ganjam district was separated from Madras Presidency and constituted in the newly created province of Orissa.

Policy during the Great Depression

The Great Depression struck the province at the fag end of P. Subbarayan's tenure and lasted the whole span of the Munuswamy Naidu and Bobbili governments. The policy of the Raja of Bobbili during the Depression was alleged to be one of the indifference to plight of the peasants and the poor. The government expressed its complete solidarity with the Governor and his executive council. As a result, while the Government endorsed the measures taken by the governor it did not criticize those that were detrimental to the common man. The ministry is alleged to have done little for the financial relief of the common man apart from making recommendations or expressing sympathy and grief. Moreover, the affluent lifestyle led by the ministers at the height of the Great Depression were sharply criticized. Madras ministers drew a salary of Rs.433 per month as opposed to Rs.225 per month that ministers in the Central Provinces received as salary. This invoked the ire of the Madras press. The newspaper India wrote:

Is not Rs.225 enough for Madras ministers, who were only second-rate vakils in the mufassal (rural areas)? When the poor are suffering for want of money, they are drawing fat salaries? What an injustice? However, these demands went unheeded. On the eve of the 1937 elections, the South Indian Federation of Peasants passed a resolution

This federation resolves that in the coming Assembly elections the proper and class-wise course for peasants to follow is to vote for the Congress candidates in general and to utilize all their organizational and other resources to strengthen those Congress candidates who give their unequivocal assurance of support for implementing of the peasant's charter of minimum demands through their work both within and without the Legislatures.

Lord Erskine, the Governor of Madras wrote to the Secretary of State for India, Lord Zetland in February 1937 that the peasants in South India were fed up with the Justice Party.

Alleged abuse of authority

Bobbili's rule was autocratic and he was highly inaccessible to party members. The success of every previous government in the Presidency had been due to the support of the district boards. However, the Raja of Bobbili, instead of appeasing the district-level politicians tried to destroy their power and influence.

The Suthanthira Sangu, in its issue dated 26 February 1935:

The Local Boards Act has been recently amended, taluk boards have been abolished, a district board has been bifurcated and attempts have been made to bifurcate other boards, which are hostile to him... He is superseding municipalities, which do not bow to his authority, removing chairmen not liked by him and trying to forfeit the liberty of these bodies by the appointment of Commissioners. The Justice Party ceased to be a major force and remained so until it was revived by E. V. Ramasami during the 1938 Madras Anti-Hindi agitations. The Raja led a much-weakened Justice Party until 1938, when he bowed out of politics.

Meanwhile, the Justice Party's opponents the Indian National Congress had decided to contest the elections at a rally in 1935. It was at this rally that the Swarajya Party formally merged with the Indian National Congress when Congress resolved to participate in the elections. The united Indian National Congress led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari captured power in the province and ruled until the declaration of war in 1939.

P. Rajaraman sums up the factors as follows "internal dissension, ineffective organization, inertia and lack of proper leadership led to the Justice Party along the path of decline".

Retirement from politics

Following the defeat of the Justice Party in the 1937 elections, the Raja's participation in politics drastically decreased until the anti-Hindi agitations, when E. V. Ramasami was elected President of the Justice Party. The Raja temporarily bowed out of politics and devoted himself to social service and other public activities.

In 1946, the Raja was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India and was part of the team which wrote India's Constitution. In 1948, following India's independence from British rule, Ramakrishna Ranga Rao lost his administrative rights over Bobbili and was reduced to the status of a titular "Raja" with some exclusive privileges.

Other activities

The Raja was a great sportsman and his main interests were horse racing and polo. He had imported many fine breeds of horses from the United Kingdom, France and Pakistan. He had won a number of cups in horse racing. He was an expert polo player and often played in the Dasara sports at Mysore and Jeypore besides Bobbili.

Later years and death

The Raja briefly returned to politics in his later years and contested as an independent from Bobbili assembly constituency in the 1967 elections to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly at the age of 66. He was subsequently elected by a margin of 28,561 votes over his nearest rival, L. Thentu of the Indian National Congress. The Raja served as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1967 to 1972. He did not stand for re-election when his term came to an end in 1972.

Ramakrishna Ranga Rao died on 10 March 1978 at the age of 77. Ramakrishna Ranga Rao was succeeded as the titular Raja of Bobbili by his son Venkata Gopala Krishna Ranga Rao.

Successors

The incumbent Raja of Bobbili is R. V. Gopala Krishna Ranga Rao, son of Ramakrishna Ranga Rao. He was elected to the 3rd Lok Sabha from Bobbili (Lok Sabha constituency) in 1962. Ramakrishna Ranga Rao's grandson R. V. Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao is the heir-apparent to the title. Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao also stood in the 2004 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections as a candidate of the Indian National Congress and was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Bobbili 3 times. Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao's brothers are Rama Krishna Ranga Rao and RVSKK Rangarao (Baby Nayana).