Early life

Kondapalli Seetharamaiah was born into a rich family in lingavaram village, Krishna District

Krishna district

Krishna District is a district of India's Andhra Pradesh state. It is named after the Krishna River, the third longest river that flows within India, flows through the district and joins Bay of Bengal here in this district. It has a population of 4,529,009 of which 32.08% is urban as of...

, Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

. Brought up in Jonnapadu village, Krishna District

Krishna district

Krishna District is a district of India's Andhra Pradesh state. It is named after the Krishna River, the third longest river that flows within India, flows through the district and joins Bay of Bengal here in this district. It has a population of 4,529,009 of which 32.08% is urban as of...

, Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

.

Political career

Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, at a young age, joined the communists. He went on to become the Krishna District

Krishna district

Krishna District is a district of India's Andhra Pradesh state. It is named after the Krishna River, the third longest river that flows within India, flows through the district and joins Bay of Bengal here in this district. It has a population of 4,529,009 of which 32.08% is urban as of...

 Secretary of the Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...

. His CPI unit was active during the Telengana Rebellion. When the CPI was divided in 1964, Seetharamaiah withdrew from political life. He began working as a Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 teacher at Fatima School in Warangal

Warangal

Warangal is a city and a municipal corporation in Warangal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Warangal is located northeast of the state capital of Hyderabad and is the administrative headquarters of Warangal District. This district is a combination of three cities: Warangal,...

. In Warangal he befriended K.G. Sathyamurthy. Both men joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

The Communist Party of India was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass-meeting in Calcutta on the 22nd of April .-History:CPI advocated armed revolution and...

. Seetharamaiah became a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Committee of CPI(ML). When the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)

The Communist Party of India was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass-meeting in Calcutta on the 22nd of April .-History:CPI advocated armed revolution and...

 was torn by internal strife, Seetharamaiah joined the Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) in 1972. In August 1974, the Andhra Pradesh State Committee of COC, CPI(ML) was organised, with Seetharamaiah as one of its three members.

On April 26, 1977 Seetharamaiah was arrested in Nagpur

Nagpur

Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...

, when police caught him with weapons in a vehicle. He was released on bail, but absconded and went underground.

In 1977 he broke away from COC, CPI(ML). On April 22, 1980 he founded the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War.

On January 2, 1982 he was arrested in Hyderabad at Begumpet Railway Station

Begumpet Railway Station

Begumpet Railway Station is a railway station in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Localities like Ameerpet, Greenlands and Somajiguda are accessible from this station. -Lines:*Multi-Modal Transport System, Hyderabad**Falaknuma - Secunderabad...

, when waiting to board a train to Bombay. On January 4, 1984 he managed to escape from the prisoners wing of the Osmania Hospital.

Following an internal dispute, which ended with the expulsion of K.G. Sathyamurthy (number 2 in the party ranks) and Byreddy Sathyanarayana Reddy (militia commander in Khammam District

Khammam district

Khammam District is a district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It had a population of 2,565,412 of which 19.81% were urban as of 2001 census. Khammam town is the district headquarters. The present name of Khammam is derived from the old name Kammamet. Later it was called Khammam Mettu and subsequently...

), Seetharamaiah's hold over the party strengthened. Sathyamurthy had begun questioning Maoist

Maoism

Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

 character of the party, on the lines of Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...

. Reddy had opposed Sathyamurthy's ouster.

In 1991, Seetharamaiah was ousted from the party. In 1993, he was caught by police in his home village. After few years in prison, he was acquitted and released on humanitarian grounds.

Final years

During his final years, he abstained from political activity. He suffered from Parkinsons disease. Kondapalli Seetharamaiah died in his granddaughter's house in Vijayawada

Vijayawada

Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...

on April 12, 2002. He was 87 years old. He was survived by his wife Koteswaramma and two granddaughters, V. Anuradha and G. Sudha. Funeral services were arranged the next day. According to press reports, only a handful of people turned up.