THE POLITICAL PRAGMATISM OF THE COMMUNISTS 165
village of Madhira Taluq, Warangal district (Telangana). The other connections developed through Munagala paragana (Krishna district) to Khammam through the efforts of Chandra Rajeswara Rao who worked in Munagala.2 Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, who belonged to the Nalgonda district, studied at Khammam, Hanmakonda (Warangal) and Hyderabad, played the role of a cotalyst in the formation of communist units at Warangal and Nalgonda districts. He had been rusticated from the Osmania University along with thirty other students for participating in the Vandemataram movement.3 Then they joined the Nagapur University and came into contact with the nationalist leaders. They also met Mahatma Gandhi at his ashram in Sevagram. However, Gandhi did not impress Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao; subsequently he, moved towards the left. Later, in 1940, he along with Sarvadhevabatle Ramanadham, Peravelli Venkataramanaiah, Chirravuri Lakshminarasaiah became communists and established contacts with Rajeswara Rao.4
The Telangana Regional Committee of the Communist Party of India was formed in 1941 under the leadership of Peravelli Venkataramaiah.5 The Warangal District Committee was set up by Ramanadham, Venkateswara Rao, Lakshminarasaiah and Venkataramanaiah in early 1942. Perhaps this was the first district committee of Telangana. Among those who joined it were Ravella Janaki /Ramaiah, Nedhuri Jagannadha Rao, Vattikonda Nageswar Rao, Vasireddi Venkatapati, Pendyala Satyanarayana, Parcha Durga Prasad Rao and Rangaiah (Nela Kondapalli). The party cells came up immediately in the villages of Tirumalayapalem, Nelakondapalli, Gokinapalli, Rayannapet, Allinagaram, Siripuram and Tallampadu and in Khammam and Madhira towns.6 Most of them belonged to the families of substantial landowners but had studied in colleges and universities and had come under the influence of the Soviet Communism.
Hyderabad city was the next in forming progressive/communist groups. The nationalist and secular intelligentsia who were rallying around the newspapers Payam edited by Khaji Abdul Gafoor and Rayyat edited by Mandumulu Narasing Rao, were reported to have formed an organisation, Naya Adab, with the aim of introducing communism in literature. Its prominent members were Dr. Mulk Raj Anand, AH Jaffery Sardar, Sibte Hasan and Mijaz Luckwawi.7 Their influence was considered to be paramount in the growing radicalisation of the intelligentsia in Hyderabad. Subsequently, the well-known Comrades Association was formed in December 1939. The teachers and students of Osmania University took active part in it. Its founder members were Alam Kundu Mir, Sayed Ibrahim, Kutub-e-Alam, Hassan Ali Meeraj, Maniklal Gupta, S. Naga Rao and N.K. Rao. Immediately afterwards Miraza-Hyder Hussain, Gulam Hyder,