Rich tributes were paid to Nyapati Subbarao Pantulu, one of the founders of The Hindu, on Friday. B. Rajakumari, SP, Rajamahendravaram Urban Police district, garlanded his statue.
Kantipudi Sarvarayudu, BJP leader and industrialist, recalled that Subbarao Pantulu was the first Chairman of the Rajahmundry Municipality and was credited with giving tap connections to the public for the first time. He founded the Rajahmundry Bar Association along with nine others in 1895 and the Town Hall Trust.
He was a member of the Madras Imperial Legislative Council. He was made first secretary of the Hitakarini Samajam founded by Kandukuri Veeresalingam. Mr. Sarvarayudu said working in the Indian National Congress from 1914 to 1917, Pantulu presided over the first Andhra Mahasabha meeting held in Vijayawada on April 11, 1914. There he voiced the demand for the separation of Andhra from the Madras Presidency.