Medical and early political career He started his practice as a doctor in the coastal town of
Machilipatnam, headquarters of Krishna District and the political centre of Andhra. He left his lucrative practice to join the freedom fighting movement. During the years 1912–13, when there was a great controversy over the desirability of forming a separate province for
Andhra, he wrote a number of articles in "The Hindu" and other journals explaining the need for immediate formation of linguistic provinces. At the Lucknow session of the Congress in 1916, he demanded the formation of separate Congress circle for Andhra. The demand was opposed by Mahatma Gandhi, but as
Tilak supported Pattabhi, the Andhra Congress Committee came into existence in 1918. He was a member of the Working Committee of the Congress for a number of years and the President of Andhra Provincial Congress Committee in 1937–40.
Publications and imprisonment He ran for the presidency of the
Indian National Congress as the candidate closest to
Mohandas Gandhi, against
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose in Tripuri Session of 1939 (in Madhya Pradesh) . He lost owing to
Netaji's rising popularity and the belief that Pattabhi favoured the inclusion of
Tamil-majority districts in a future
Telugu state in independent India. Serving on the
Congress Working Committee when the
Quit India Movement was launched in 1942, Pattabhi was arrested with the entire committee and incarcerated for three years without outside contact in the fort in
Ahmednagar,
Maharashtra. During this time he maintained a detailed
diary of day-to-day life during imprisonment, which was published later as
Feathers and Stones. He is also the author of
The History of the Congress published in 1935 with an introductory note given by the
Rajendra Prasad. His other popular publication was
Gandhi and Gandhism.
High office He ran successfully for Congress presidency in 1948, winning with the support of
Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Prime Minister of India. He was a member of the J.V.P. Committee (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi) which formally rejected the reorganization of states on linguistic lines but after a 56-day hunger strike by
Potti Sriramulu the formation of Andhra State without Madras City took place. Prior to this he served as a member in the Constituent Assembly, in 1952 he was elected to Rajya Sabha. Pattabhi also served as the
Governor of
Madhya Pradesh from 1956 to 1957.
Andhra Bank With the financial support of
Srimantu Raja Yarlagadda Sivarama Prasad Bahadur, Sitaramayya established
Andhra Bank in
Machilipatnam on 28 November 1923 which is currently one of the major
commercial banks of India. Its present headquarters is located at Hyderabad. The head office of Andhra Bank, "Pattabhi Bhavan", is named after him. He also started Andhra Insurance Company, Krishna Jilla Co-Operative Bank in
Krishna District Bhagyalakshmi Bank. == Notes ==