PRAJASHAKTI (People's Power) was the first communist periodical in Telugu, started in 1942 from Vajayawada, Andhra Pradesh. For the first three years it was published as a weekly. From 1945 to 1948, it was published as a daily, espousing the cause of the working class, as the voice of progressive, patriotic and democratic sections of the people. In 1948, it had to be closed down due to repressive measures and ban by the government in the wake of the Telangana movement.

The ban was relaxed in August 1951 and Prajashakti again started publication from November 21, 1951, as a biweekly.

In the general elections held in 1952, Communist Party came out as the largest single party in Andhra Pradesh and became the main opposition party in parliament. As a result of its increased responsibilities towards the people's aspirations, Prajashakti converted itself into Visaalandhra daily with effect from June 22, 1952. However, due to historical reasons (of split in the Party), Prajashakti reappeared again from July 1968 and continued its publication for 13 long years -- as a weekly, biweekly, or small-size daily at the time of elections. From August 1, 1981, Prajashakti became a fullfledged Telugu daily and continues its publication uninterruptedly with the patronage of the people.

EARLIER PAPERS

Earlier, articles and poems espousing socialist ideology used to be published in Prabha and some other newspapers. But the first fullfledged socialist newspaper in Andhra Pradesh was Navashakti, started by Madduri Annapurnayya on behalf of Congress Socialist Party. However, Navashakti was more or less under communist influence, thanks to the late Comrade P Sundarayya who was a Central Committee member of the Communist Party and also the secretary of Congress Socialist Party, simultaneously. Navashakti was first published from Rajamundry but was later shifted to Vijayawada.

At this juncture, the Second World War broke out. Since the Communist Party took a stand against the war, the editor anticipated that the British government would ban Navashakti. He brought out its last edition, enumerating the people's responsibilities at that stage. Navashakti stopped publication according to a plan, in order to save its printing press and office from confiscation. Thus the press and Party machinery were protected tactfully. The leaders went underground.

During the period 1939-42, the Communist Party secretly published Swatantra Bharat and made elaborate arrangements to distribute it all over the state. In running this paper, in addition to Sundarayya, editors Maddukuri, Tummala, Kondepudi Lakshminarayana, Lanka Jogarao and others played an important part. The government tried to locate and destroy its publishing and distribution network, but failed. It proclaimed that all those reading or even possessing a copy of the paper would be arrested. Yet people used to procure the paper and read it. Some were even jailed for just possessing a copy.

REVOLUTIONARY FORCE

The ban on Communist Party was lifted in June 1942. Even before the jailed or underground Party leaders could come out, Katragadda Rajagopala Rao took a declaration for Prajashakti whose first edition came out on June 13, 1942.

Thus Prajashakti became the first officially published newspaper of the Communist Party. From July 29, 1942, it became the organ of "Comintern -- Communist Party of India -- Andhra Committee." Its editorial board consisted of Maddukuri Chandrasekhararao, Kambhampati Satyanarayana senior, Tummala Venkataramayya, Putchalapalli Sundarayya and Chalasani Vasudevarao.

That was the period when the Communist Party was taking shape as a revolutionary people's party in Andhra. Struggles of the workers, peasants, youth, students and women were developing into major organised movements. Intellectuals were turning to the communist movement. The Party was developing into a major political force and an alternative to the Congress. At this juncture, the Party decided to bring out Prajashakti as a regular daily in order to cater to the needs of Party's growth and make it a weapon of people's struggles.

Unlike today, it was then a very difficult task to get permission from the government to start a communist daily. To get the permission, one comrade (Kambhampati Satyanarayana junior) had to be stationed in Delhi for months together. The much needed staff, network, resources and money to publish the daily had to be secured. It was a matter of significance that, apart from common people, progressive intelligentsia also took a keen interest in establishing a communist newspaper at Vijayawada, the nerve centre of Andhra politics. Many progressive young poets and writers, even though they had no experience in running a daily, came forward on their own to work in the editorial section. Those who joined included literary stalwarts like Vidwan Viswam, Setti Eswararao, Anisetti Subbarao, Mahidhara Rammohanarao and reputed cartoonist Madhavapeddi Gokhale, apart from those already working like Maddukuri, Tummala and Kambhampati senior.

As soon as the news spread that Prajashakti was going to be published as a regular daily, freedom fighter, reputed poet, novelist and cartoonist Adavi Bapiraju designed with dedication and sent the logo for Prajashakti, on his own.

Later, Kakumanu Narayanarao, who was working as chief mechanic in the famous BNK Press in Madras, joined Prajashakti and helped in its publication.

PRAJASHAKTI NAGAR

Sympathisers from all over the state sent donations liberally and helped in creating the infrastructure needed for starting the daily. Its office was started in the "Tobacco Barons" of Katragadda Brothers in Mogalrajapuram, Vijayawada, with the donations received from people. Several acres of land were acquired there and a Prajashakti Nagar was established. Comrades working in the paper, centre and state used to reside, alongwith their families, in the huts constructed on this land. Prajasakti Nagar was then a tourist centre for the communists and sympathisers. Comrades who escaped from the reign of terror in Telangana used to be sheltered there.

With this background, the first edition of rejuvenated communist daily in Telugu, Prajashakti, came out on December 3, 1945. Its inaugural edition was released in a very big meeting by Uppala Lakshminarayanarao, a literary stalwart, engineer and sympathiser. The date became a milestone in the history of communist journalism in Telugu. In order to weaken the communist movement, when the feudal-capitalist press was dishing out disinformation every day and pouring out allegations that the communists were foreign agents, when the working class, the Communist Party, the first socialist state Soviet Union and the international communist movement were denigrated with all sorts of unsubstantiated and false allegations, Prajashakti Telugu daily came out as the voice of the working class and progressive sections. Because of its role, the movement got strong foundations in Andhra; at the all-India level the Party acquired a distinct position.

In the same period, Andhra Mahasabha became a powerful people's organisation under communist leadership, and fought against the Nizam's feudal rule in Telangana area of the present Andhra Pradesh. The people were attracted towards the call of Comrade Sundarayya, on behalf of Communist Party, for creation of a unified democratic Visaalandhra for all the Telugu speaking people. Prajashakti served the cause of this movement to a very great extent. One of the Andhra Mahasabha leaders from Telangana, Arutla Lakshmi Narasimharao, joined its editorial department, to edit the news of its movement.

As the Prajashakti became very popular, it also became a headache for the rulers. Since Prajasakti Nagar had become a centre for fund collection in coastal areas for the cause of liberation of Telangana from the feudal rule of Nizam, it angered the Nehru government at the centre also.

By 1948, the repression on the communist movement in Andhra had become severe and the main leaders had to go underground. The police raided the Prajashakti premises a number of times. Senior comrades working in editorial section had to work under semi-legal circumstances. As repression became severe and severe, two or three comrades deserted in view of the lurking danger. While the publication was continuing within the limitations of staff, police raided the Prajashakti office and fully destroyed all the copies, printing machinery and library in a most inhuman way. The question of running the paper any longer became impossible. Prajashakti was banned with effect from April 22, 1948.

UNDERGROUND PRESS

The Communist Party faced a series of repression during the period 1948-52. In the Telangana area, under the leadership of Communist Party and Andhra Mahasabha, armed struggle was being waged against the Nizam's feudal rule and oppression. The historic struggle was for securing land to the tiller and the right to live. The demand was to abolish Hyderabad state and unite all Telugu speaking areas into one state of Visaalandhra. The leaders had to go underground to conduct the struggle. The government resorted to all sorts of repressive measures. Communists and their sympathisers faced such atrocities and cruelty as they had not faced even during the British rule. The captured leaders were detained in jails indefinitely without being produced before any authorities. Some others were shot dead in an inhuman manner. Those who were identified as sympathisers used to face lot of restrictions and humiliation. On the plea that they were helping the struggle in Telangana, the people in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh were subjected by the rulers to unprecedented cruel repression. The government resorted to severest oppression and humiliated the people in Katuru and Yalamarru villages in Krishna district by forcing them to undress.

Even during those difficult times, however, the Party leadership tried to reach out to the people through journals.

JANATA (PEOPLE)

Some time after Prajashakti was forced to stop publication, in order to disseminate the views, the Communist Party leadership decided to utilise the fortnightly called Janata for which declaration had already been obtained by Gangineni Venkateswararao of Guntur. To entrust me that responsibility, underground comrades, Moturu Hanumantharao and Chalasani Vasudevarao, sent a message to a village in Krishna district where I was working as a teacher of the Party's political classes. However, after Janata was started, Hanumantha Rao was arrested and detained in jail. Myself and Vasireddi Bhaskararao, noted playwright of Maa Bhoomi (Our Land), together used to shoulder the editorial responsibilities of the paper. Ananda Rao, who had earlier worked in Prajashakti, was our manager. Gangineni Venkateswara Rao, who was the editor and publisher of Janata, entrusted to us whole responsibility and shifted to Visakhapatnam to study law. Later the paper was run totally by the Communist Party leadership.

Since it was a period of complete ban on communist activities, articles and commentaries on day to day problems and contemporary politics, ideology-based articles, write-ups on international issues, and translations were published in Janata. The paper was successfully run for two years with pictures of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, etc, on the cover page. We had to work with the least possibility of getting any messages from the Party leadership. In order to camouflage my presence, I had enrolled myself as a proof-reader but worked as the editor of Janata. The police raided the premises on a number of occasions but could not get any information. But as the horrible incidents of arrest, repression and shoot-down even on the basis of suspicion increased, it became impossible to run the paper from Vijayawada, and the publication was stopped. The leadership then directed us to shift to Madras where restrictions were not so severe, and start another paper. That way, we three reached Madras.

On our own, there was absolutely no possibility of starting a new paper. Fortunately, a Party sympathiser and law student, G Gopala Rao, possessed a declaration for a weekly called Sandesam (Message) at the end of 1950. Rambhatla Krishnamurty, who earlier worked in Meezaan daily at Hyderabad, was deputed to work in Sandesam. Kambhampati senior, S V Narasayya and others used to help from the underground. A K R B Koteswara Rao used to be the courier between us and the underground leadership.

Prior to these, Taapi Mohana Rao who worked in Prajashakti at the time of closure, had also shifted to Madras to run Janavani started by his renowned father, Taapi Dharma Rao.

JANAVANI (PEOPLE'S VOICE)

At the same time, Maddukuri Chandrasekhara Rao, under detention, was released on parole due to his mother's death. As per the Party direction, we met him at Madras and brought him to the underground centre by dodging the police detectives. He asked me to work in Janavani and directed Setti Eswararao, who earlier managed the Vasaalandhra Literary Monthly, to shift to Delhi to work in Soviet Land. Vasireddi Bhaskara Rao had gone to Bombay. Till Prajashakti weekly was restarted from Vijayawada in 1952, I continued to work in Janavani.

Even though Janavani used to publish news and views in support of the communist movement and the people's agitations, the government could not interfere as it was owned by a noted literary giant, Taapi Dharma Rao. Besides, as Janavani used to be printed in the press owned by the central minister B S Murthy, we could ward off suspicions. In those days, Taapi Mohana Rao and myself used to be the link between the underground leadership and those working openly. We were always haunted by the fear that we might land up in police trap or shot dead mercilessly. Therefore, we used to take a lot of precaution. To meet the underground leaders, we used to go to two or three places for two days within the city and then reach the appointed place.

Taapi Dharma Rao left the management of Janavani completely to Mohana Rao and myself. However, he used to write the editorials regularly. He never touched the political issues. Still we used to include political matters in a balanced way, with care. And in the end, we used to publish the Polit Bureau's announcements and Party news. Taapi Dharma Rao never objected to this trick. He was a pragmatist. Even though he was a follower of a different political philosophy earlier, ever since his sons started working in the Communist Party and after getting the opportunity to closely observe the communist ideology, Dharma Rao became a sympathiser of the Leftist movement. It was thus that he agreed to preside over the first ever meeting of Andhra Progressive Writers.

After coming out from underground, Comrades Sundarayya and Rajeswara Rao met Taapi Dharma Rao and personally thanked him for helping the movement in the most difficult period.

PRAJASHAKTI WEEKLY

The ban on Communist Party was relaxed to an extent in August 1951 and some important Party leaders were released from jail, as the general elections were to be held in 1952. Even as the main leadership was still in jail or underground, Prajashakti was restarted as a weekly from November 21, 1951. After Comrade A K Gopalan was released from jail, the leaders overground arranged his public meetings at Vijayawada and other places, and these meetings reduced the then prevailing fear psychosis among the people. The relaxation on ban and the general elections prompted the reappearance of Prajashakti as a weekly. I came back from Madras to work in Prajashakti again. Rambhatla Krishmamurthy who had worked in Sandesam, T V Krishna who was a detenue in Rayaveluru Jail and Mahidhara Rammohana Rao who was leading underground life in Rayalaseema also joined.

The news that Prajashakti was about to reappear rejuvenated the enthusiasm among the communists and democratic sections. "Sri Sri," a revolutionary poet of Telugu, wrote a poem for publication that is translated below:

Come! Prajashakti Come!
Let it be every week,
Surely Come!
Become the voice of voiceless,
Expose the falsehood and guilt,
Drive out the darkness of lies,
Bring in the golden light of truth,
Come! Prajasakti Come!
To change the world, Come!

Prajashakti became a biweekly from December 1951, keeping in view the first general elections to be held in 1952 and the need to disseminate the Party ideology to the people, and played a historic role. The ruling Congress party and its ministers were defeated both in assembly and Lok Sabha elections in coastal as well as Telangana areas. The Communist Party came out as the single largest party.

VISAALANDHRA DAILY

After the 1952 general elections, Communist Party emerged as an alternative political force to the Congress in the states of Andhra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu (Madras) and West Bengal. In the parliament as well as in united Madras state, Kerala and West Bengal, communists became the main opposition.

The main Communist Party leaders in Andhra and Telangana were released from jail and started working for the Party. In such circumstances, the need of starting a daily newspaper in Telugu became overriding. Keeping in view the task of integrating the Telugu speaking areas in Nizam's state with other areas and to fight for a separate enlarged Andhra, the Party leadership decided to name the Party daily as Visaalandhra. In fact, even during the ban period, a secret bulletin called "Visaalandhra" used to be published by the Communist Party.

This Telugu daily came out on June 22, 1952 and the existing Party paper, Prajashakti gave way to it. The inaugural issue was released in a meeting held in Rammohan Library by Taapi Dharma Rao, who had earlier helped the movement during the ban period through his Janavani.

Poet "Sri Sri" sent a message to Visaalandhra also, which contained a reference to a black crow; it meant C Rajagopalachari who opposed the formation of a separate Andhra state.

Problems were initially faced in running the daily as comrades experienced in working with a daily were not available. Therefore, the daily was started with a nearly all-new staff.

JANASHAKTI (PEOPLE'S POWER)

In between, serious differences started surfacing in the communist movement both at national and international levels. Despite the declaration of Communist Parties of 81 countries and the Vijayawada Party Congress resolution, a revisionist trend started appearing in the Party. Taking this opportunity the central government utilised the Sino-Indian border dispute as an excuse, started branding one section of the Party as anti-national and jailed them in order to divide the movement. The majority in Andhra Party leadership unilaterally removed Visaalandhra editor Moturu Hanumantha Rao, general manager Golla Radhakrishna Murty and others from the board of directors of Visaalandhra Vigyana Samiti and appointed its own men. The revisionists thus took control of the paper.

Under those circumstances, some comrades started Janashakti weekly in June 1963 even while the leaders were in jail. Later it became a biweekly.

After the split in the Party, when the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) was meeting in Kerala after the Seventh Party Congress in Calcutta, the central government suddenly arrested its leaders all over the country and detained them. Comrade D V Subba Rao, editor, publisher, manager and chief executive of Janashakti, was one of them. The government thought the paper will cease to appear now. But as per the directions of the leadership, myself and other comrades successfully managed to publish the Janashakti biweeky to disseminate the CPI(M)'s ideology and message to the people till the leadership came out of jail. During the period its circulation went up.

After the leaders came out of jail or underground, it was decided to bring out Janashakti as a daily; its first issue was brought out on September 1, 1966. It was released by a prominent progressive Telugu writer, Kodavaganti Kutumbarao, in a public meeting presided over by Comrade Sundarayya. The paper was published successfully for two years. After the Naxalites split away, the paper continued as a weekly for some time but ultimately went into Naxalite hands.

PRAJASHAKTI AGAIN

Now, the CPI (M) did not have a paper of its own. As per the directions of the Party, I then obtained declaration for Prajashakti weekly. It took 2-3 months to obtain the declaration and bring out the paper. In the meantime, in order to explain the CPI(M)'s policies and counter the arguments of splitters, the Party had to publish four or five bulletins. Finally, Prajashakti weekly came out on July 27, 1968.

For over 13 long years, Prajashakti was published as a weekly, biweekly, or daily at election time. The paper did creditable work in mobilising the working class and democratic sections. It projected the CPI(M)'s policies and correctly analysed the national and international issues from time to time.

After Mrs Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency, the leadership was again jailed or went underground. In those difficult days, Prajashakti became a beacon light and did commendable work. Later, keeping in view the political needs, the Party leadership decided to bring out Prajashakti as a daily.

Prominent progressive writer, researcher and Party sympathiser, Dr Arudra, wrote a special welcome poem for the daily. As was wished in the poem, the daily has been continuing its duties towards the people inspite of several ups and downs.

HOMAGE TO PIONEERS

The managing committee of Prajashakti always regards it as a sacred duty to pay homage to the departed leaders, and the martyrs who laid down their lives working for the communist press in Andhra. We pay our revolutionary regards to --

* the model communist Comrade Sundarayya who was instrumental in establishing and running all the communist newspapers in Telugu from time to time;

* Comrade Chapala Venkateswara Rao who worked in Prajashakti in the initial days and later managed the underground printing press at the centre;

* Comrade Nagulapalli Koteswara Rao who worked as Prajashakti press manager and was later shot dead while working in the Party's secret network during the ban period;

* Comrade Kakumanu Narayana Rao who operated the printing press of the first Prajashakti daily;

* Comrade D V Subba Rao who very efficiently managed Visaalandhra press and later Janashakti press and who died while under detention during the ban period;

* Comrade Golla Radhakrishna Murthy who worked as the general manager of Visaalandhra and later Prajashakti;

* Comrades Maddukuri Chandrasekhara Rao, Tummala Venkataramayya and Kambhampati senior who worked as editors of the communist periodicals in the early days.