Sri Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu was one of the foremost leaders of our freedom struggle. The people of Andhra Pradesh in particular, have derived much inspiration from his achievements as fighter, editor and political leader.
1) Tangutri Prakasam was born on August 23, 1872 at Vinodarayunipalem village near Ongole Dist. in Andhra Pradesh. His parents were Subbamma and Gopala Krishnaya.

2) For better education his teacher "Hanumantha Rao" Naidu took him along to Rajahmundry. He was interested in becoming a lawyer since childhood, he managed to go to Madras and become a second-grade pleader. Returning to Rajahmundry, he eventually became a successful lawyer.

3) In 1904 he went to England for his Barrister course. Later he joined the Royal India Society and worked for the election of Dadabhai Naoroji to the House of Commons. After completing the barrister course with a certificate of honour in London, Prakasam relocated to Madras high court. He was one of the only Telugu barristers to be successful; until then, most of the successful lawyers were either European or Tamil. He dealt with both civil and criminal cases.

4) He was the working editor of a newspaper Swarajya. The paper was published simultaneously in English, Telugu and Tamil. Prakasam ran a national school and a khādī production center. He was elected the general secretary of the Congress Party in December 1921 at the Ahmedabad session.

5) Simon Commission visited Madras on 3 February 1928, the police did not allow protests in some sensitive areas of Madras. The crowd grew and became restive near the Madras High Court at Parry's Corner and the police resorted to firing with a view to control it. A young man named Pardha Saradhi was killed on the spot. The police warned the people that they would shoot if anyone tried to come near the body. Prakasam grew enraged and tore open his shirt, baring his chest and daring the police to shoot at him. Understanding the situation, the police gave way to him and other supporters. After this incident, he was known respectfully as "Andhra Kesari".

6) In 1946, after the Congress victory in elections in Madras Presidency, Prakasam became the chief minister on 30 April 1946. However, the government lasted for only 11 months due to political uncertainty.

7) After the creation of Andhra State in 1953, Prakasam was the unanimous choice for Chief minister of the new state. He was not only the party's choice, but the people's choice too.

8) Prakasam was active in touring the state promoting harijan issues. On one such visit to a harijanwada near Ongole, he suffered from severe sunstroke. He was admitted to a Hyderabad hospital and died on 20 May 1957.
