Within the Communist Party of India (CPI), he began working as a district level activist in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. In 1943 he was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Provincial Committee of the CPI and its secretariat. He participated in the Telangana Rebellion. At the Second Congress of the CPI in 1948, he was elected to the Central Committee of the party. In June 1950, was inducted into the party politburo. He was one among the four member Indian Communist delegation who met Joseph Stalin clandestinely in 1950 to receive his advise on whether to continue the Telangana Rebellion or not.