Word: andhra
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Fissiparous Trend. Two years ago Nehru created the first language-based state, Andhra, under pressure from Telegu-speaking people of Madras, whose rioting was sparked by Communist agitators. The example of Andhra inspired language groups all over India to cultivate what Nehru branded as "fissiparous tendencies" and to demand their own states. The Babel-like hue and cry would have seemed ominous, indeed, but for a happy outcome in Andhra. There, in the first state election, with language no longer an issue, the Communists could no longer whip up hatreds, and were themselves soundly whipped. Thus encouraged, Nehru saw advantages...
...Upset. Rich and well-organized, Andhra's Communist Party went into the election campaign confidently. Last week the returns from the 8,000,000 voters were almost all in. The Communists had lost more than 80% of their strength in a sudden, numbing landslide. They managed to hold only ten of their former 41 seats against a towering new total of 120 seats for a democratic Congress Party coalition. Andhra's Communist leader, Nagi Reddi, was beaten. India's national Communist leader, Ajoy Ghosh, was reduced to humble mumbling about "my weaknesses and shortcomings." The fundamental Communist...
...Communists had lost ground especially among Andhra's farmers, tenants and literate white-collar workers, who had once been disposed to support them. "I was attracted to Communism," said Krishna Rao, a bank clerk, "because the Reds supported our wage demands and condemned bankers. I participated in meetings where people shouted 'Death to Capitalists,' but I was shocked when I found out that my own household help was shouting 'Death to Exploiters of Toiling Domestic Servants...
...Hard Line. Two months ago, Jawaharlal Nehru, alerted to the menacing possibility of Andhra, flew down to campaign there for two days. His old crowd magic failed. On a wishy-washy neutralist platform (he admired "Communism," but opposed its "methods"), he got nowhere. In desperation, the tough Congress Party politicos sent in one of the toughest of their lot, S. K. ("Eskay") Patil, former mayor of Bombay...
Eskay Patil fired corrupt, naive and inefficient Congress ward bosses. While Nehru spoke softly abroad of Communists, Patil plastered Andhra with lurid pictures of Communist atrocities in Red China (TIME, Jan. 31). He exploited the fall of Malenkov as proof of Communist failure and decay. "Five acres per peasant -we will give you land," the Communists insistently proclaimed. "Give the Reds your vote," Eskay Patil responded, "and you give away your freedom...