The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday renamed Nellore district after 'Amarajeevi' Potti Sriramulu, who died five decades ago fighting for a separate state for Telugus.

Making a statement in the assembly, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the government took the decision following representations from different sections.

He said the idea was accepted in the meetings convened by him with leaders of the opposition parties and all the legislators from Nellore district.

The chief minister paid rich tributes to Sriramulu, who was born in March 1901 in Chennai.

In his student days, he was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's writings. He joined the freedom struggle in 1930 after giving up his job with the Indian Railways. He was jailed during the Quit India movement.

Subsequently, Sriramulu went to Nellore, the native district of his parents.

After his return to Chennai, he led the popular movement for a separate state for the Telugus [by bifurcating the composite Madras state].

On October 14, 1952, Sriramulu went on a hunger strike at the residence of another prominent Telugu leader, Bulusa Sambamurthy, in Chennai, demanding a separate Andhra state.

He continued his fast and died on the night of December 15, 1952.

On December 19, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru announced in the Lok Sabha that a separate Andhra state would be formed.

The Andhra state, with Kurnool as the capital, came into being on October 1, 1953. Later, Andhra Pradesh was formed on November 1, 1956, by integrating the Telugu-speaking areas of the erstwhile Hyderabad state.