Dr.Pattabhi Sitaramayya, 1880-1959, a freedom fighter and historian of the Indian National Congress and founder of river bank and Andhra Insurance Company. Pattabhi graduated from the prestigious Madras Christian College, fulfilled his ambition to become a medical practitioner by securing a M.B.C.M. degree. He started his practice as a doctor in the coastal town of Machilipatnam, 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 1952 to 1957. He established Andhra Bank in Machilipatnam on 28 November 1923 which is currently one of the major commercial banks of India. Its present headquarters are 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 Bhagya lakshmi Bank.
