Peasant agitation in Tiruvuru Taluka

The peasant movement of the 1930s in Tiruvuru taluka in the then Krishna district, and present-day NTR district of Andhra Pradesh is one of them is a prominent example of how peasant movements for economic and social reforms dramatically intertwined with the larger struggle for independence in India. The agriculturists of the Tiruvuru taluka received virtually no benefits from the construction of dams and irrigation facilities that the colonial government had undertaken in other parts of Andhra Pradesh. Simultaneously, they suffered great oppression at the hands of the landlords and their middlemen, who extracted excessive revenue and illegal cesses from them, and demanded unpaid labor or begar. In the late 1930s, the local leaders and peasants decided to come together to fight and improve their conditions. Nationalist leaders such as K Narayan Rao and P Radha Krishna Murti sought to raise awareness among the government and the people at large through petitions and distribution of pamphlets regarding the unjust treatment of the peasants by the zamindars. Further, in 1938 meetings and marches of peasants took place under the aegis of the West-Krishna District Congress held in Tiruvuru. Political leaders deftly used sports and athletic activities to draw large crowds of people, who were then enlightened regarding the evils of imperialism. In 1941, the peasants won a crucial victory against the local zamindar when they prevented the sale of the community lands which were used by them to graze their cattle. Such agrarian struggles played a critical role in deepening the anti-imperialist sentiments among the peasantry, and drawing them into the freedom struggle.