The Telugu publishing house of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It descends from the Prajashakthi Publishing House of the 1940s, the publishing arm linked to the communist Telugu paper Prajasakti (which dates itself to 1942), which published Telugu writers such as Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao and Chaso. That house went inactive after 1948, during the repression of communists in the Telangana armed struggle. A successor, Marxist Pracharanalu, ran for about ten years, presumably after the 1964 split that created the CPI(M). In 1977 the house moved from the newspaper office to its own premises on Eluru Road — now Karl Marx Road — in Vijayawada, took its present name, and had its new building opened by the veteran communist leader P. Sundarayya. Branches followed in Hyderabad (1994), Hanumakonda (1996) and Tirupati (1997). By the 2000s it was publishing about 100 books a year, with English titles from 2002, and it remains active. The Communist Party of India's rival Telugu publisher is Visalaandhra. This history rests on a single 2007 account summarising the house's own history; its dates are provisional.
Years
1942–present
Location
Vijayawada, India
Name history
1942–1948 Prajashakthi Publishing House — Linked to the Telugu paper Prajasakti; inactive after 1948 (dates provisional)
?–? Marxist Pracharanalu — Ran for about ten years, presumably after the 1964 split (dates provisional)
1977–present Prajasakti Book House, Vijayawada — Own premises on Eluru Road (now Karl Marx Road), opened by P. Sundarayya
Also known as
Prajashakthi Publishing House · Marxist Pracharanalu · Praja Sakti Book House