Guntur district was at the centre of nationalist activity and the participation was very widespread including not only students, but also merchants and peasants in the villages. A highlight of the Non-Cooperation movement was the famous Chirala Perala movement. The government decided to convert this town into a municipality and forced high taxes. About 15,000 people of the town led by Duggirala Gopala krishnayya refused to pay the taxes and migrated to a new settlement called Ramnagar and remained there for eleven months. There was a powerful movement of non-payment of land revenue by the peasants and mass resignations of village officers. People said, “Gandhiji’s swaraj is coming and we will not pay taxes to this government.”

Another major development was the Forest Satyagraha in Palnati taluka of Guntur district and also in Rayachoti taluka of Kadapa district. Peasants began sending herds of cattle into the forests without paying grazing fees to the forest department. In many villages of Palnadu, people declared Gandhi Raj and attacked police parties. People were convinced that the colonial rule was coming to an end and the forests would be back in the control of the village people. In the two taluqs, the forest

administration had to virtually close down during the agitation period. These were some of the incidents that took place in our state as a part of Non Cooperation movement.