there are a few notable people from the town with their contributions to various fields such as politics, film industry and other areas. neelam sanjiva reddy was the former president of india and the first chief minister of andhra pradesh, paidi lakshmayya was the first member of parliament from anantapur lok sabha constituency; kallur subba rao was an indian freedom activist and was the first speaker of andhra assembly; kadiri venkata reddy was an indian film director, writer and also a producer, sathya sai baba, a hindu spiritual leader; bellary raghava was an indian playwright, thespian and film actor.