Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was born in a peasant family at Illuri village in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh on 19th May 1913. Sanjiva Reddy had his early education at the Theosophical High School at Adyar in Madras. He later joined the Arts College at Anantapur.
Young Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was greatly influenced by the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi. He gave up his studies to take part in the freedom movement. In 1931 Neelam Sanjiva Reddy joined the Indian National Congress.
He participated in a student Satyagraha, which brought him into the limelight. He was also jailed for participating in the Quit India Movement.
In 1946, he was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly. He became a member of the Constituent Assembly in 1947. In 1951, he was elected as the president of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, and subsequently, he became member of the Rajya Sabha.
He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress from 1959 to 1962. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy became Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1953 and then the first Chief Minister of the state in 1956.
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