Gogineni Ranga nayukulu (Telugu: గోగినేని రంగ నాయకులు ) , better known as N. G. Ranga (Telugu: ఎన్. జీ. రంగా) (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), was an Indian freedom fighter, parliamentarian, and kisan (farmer) leader. He was an exponent of the peasant philosophy, and considered the father of the Indian Peasant Movement after Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.[1]
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Ranga was born in Nidubrolu village in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. He went to school in his native village, and graduated from the Andhra-Christian College, Guntur. He received a B.Litt. in Economics from the University of Oxford in 1926. On his return to India, he took up teaching as Professor of Economics at Pachaiyappa's College, Madras (Chennai).
Lok Sabha | Period | Constituency | Party |
---|---|---|---|
2nd Lok Sabha | 1957-1962 | Tenali | Congress Party |
3rd Lok Sabha | 1962-1967 | Chittoor | Swatantra Party |
4th Lok Sabha | 1967-1970 | Srikakulam | Swatantra Party |
7th Lok Sabha | 1980-1984 | Guntur | Congress (I) |
8th Lok Sabha | 1984-1989 | Guntur | Congress (I) |
9th Lok Sabha | 1989-1991 | Guntur | Congress (I) |
Ranga joined the freedom movement inspired by Gandhi's clarion call in 1930. He led the ryot agitation in 1933. Three years later, he launched the Kisan Congress party. He held historic discussions with Gandhiji on the demand for a rythu-coolie state. He wrote a book, Bapu Blesses regarding his discussions with Gandhi..
Ranga was one of the founders of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. He represented India at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (Copenhagen) in 1946, the International Labour Organisation (San Francisco) in 1948, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (Ottawa) in 1952, the International Peasant Union (New York) in 1954 and the Asian Congress for World Government (Tokyo) in 1955.
He quit the Congress Party and founded the Bharat Krishikar Lok Party and the Swatantra Party, along with Rajaji who was a trenchant critic of the cooperative farming idea. Ranga became the founder-president of the Swatantra Party and held that post for a decade. In the general elections held in 1962, the party won 25 seats and emerged as a strong Opposition. He rejoined the Congress (I) in 1972.
Ranga served the Indian Parliament for six decades from 1930 to 1991.