K. Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj | |
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Sattur (1957–1967) | |
Personal details | |
Born | Kumaraswami Kamaraj 15 July 1903
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Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903
As the
Early life
Kamaraj was born on 15 July 1903 in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, to Kumaraswami Nadar and Sivakami Ammal.[8][9] His name was originally Kamatchi, later changed to Kamarajar. His father Kumaraswami Nadar was a merchant. Kamaraj had a younger sister named Nagammal.[8][10] Kamaraj was first enrolled in a traditional school in 1907 and in 1908 he was admitted to Yenadhi Narayana Vidhya Salai. In 1909 Kamaraj was admitted in Virudupatti High School. Kamaraj's father died when he was six years old, his mother was forced to support the family. In 1914 Kamaraj dropped out of school to support his mother.[9]
Politics
As a young boy, Kamaraj worked in his uncle's provision shop and during that time he began to attend public meetings and processions about the Indian Home Rule movement. Kamaraj developed an interest in prevailing political conditions by reading newspapers daily. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was the decisive turning point in his life - he decided to fight for national freedom and to bring an end to foreign rule.[11] In 1920, when he was 17, he became active in politics. He joined Congress as a full-time political worker.[citation needed] In 1921 Kamaraj organised public meetings at Virudhunagar for Congress leaders. He was eager to meet Mahatma Gandhi, and when Gandhi visited Madurai on 21 September 1921, Kamaraj attended the public meeting and met Gandhi for the first time. He visited villages carrying Congress propaganda.[11]
In 1922 Congress boycotted the visit of the Prince of Wales as part of the
Kamaraj went to jail for two years in June 1930 for participating in the
Kamaraj conducted a vigorous campaign throughout the state asked people not to contribute to war funds when Arthur Hope, the Madras Governor, was collecting contributions to fund for the Second World War. In December 1940 he was arrested again at Guntur, under the Defence of India rules for speeches that opposed contributions to the war fund, and sent to Vellore Central Prison while he was on his way to Wardha to get Gandhi's approval for a list of Satyagrahis. While in jail, he was elected as Municipal Councillor of Virudhunagar. He was released nine months later in November 1941 and resigned from this post as he thought he had greater responsibility for the nation.[19][20] His principle was "One should not accept any post to which one could not do full justice".[21]
In 1942, Kamaraj attended the All-India Congress Committee in
During the
Chief Minister of Madras State
On 13 April 1954, Kamaraj became the
As
During the colonial era, the local education rate was at 7%; after Kamaraj's reforms, it reached 37%. Apart from increasing the number of schools, steps were taken to improve standards of education. To improve standards, the number of working days was increased from 180 to 200; unnecessary holidays were reduced; and syllabi were prepared to give opportunity to various abilities. Kamaraj and Bishnuram Medhi (Governor) took efforts to establish IIT Madras in 1959.[18]
Major irrigation schemes were planned in Kamaraj's period. Dams and irrigation canals were built across higher
Industries with huge investments in crores of Rupees were started in his period:
On 6 September 1959, Kamaraj overtook the Raja of Panagal's record of being the longest-serving Chief Minister (up till that point, no Chief Minister had served 5 years straight except the Raja). On his retirement, he became the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state serving a record 9 years. He remains the longest-serving Chief Minister of Madras State (1950-1969) and he also has the longest uninterrupted tenure of any Chief Minister till date [while Karunanidhi was the longest-serving CM in terms of cumulative durations, it was spread out across 5 different tenures - none of which touched or crossed the 3,000-day mark]].
Kamaraj Plan
Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for
In 1963 he suggested to Nehru that senior Congress leaders should leave ministerial posts to take up organisational work. This suggestion came to be known as the Kamaraj Plan, which was designed primarily to dispel from the minds of Congressmen the lure of power, creating in its place a dedicated attachment to the objectives and policies of the organisation. Six Union Ministers and six
National politics
After Nehru's death in 1964, Kamaraj successfully navigated the party through turbulent times. As the president of INC, he refused to become the next prime minister himself and was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi 1966.[33] For this role, he was widely acclaimed as the "kingmaker" during the 1960s.[34]
When the Congress split in 1969, Kamaraj became the leader of the Indian National Congress (Organisation) (INC(O)) in Tamil Nadu. The party fared poorly in the 1971 elections amid allegations of fraud by the opposition parties. He remained the leader of INC(O) until his death in 1975.[35]
Electoral history
Year | Post | Constituency | Party | Opponent | Election | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1937 | MLA | Sattur | INC | Unopposed | 1937 elections |
Won |
1946 | MLA | Aruppukottai |
INC | Unopposed | 1946 elections |
Won |
1952 | MP | Srivilliputhur | INC | G. D. Naidu |
Indian General Elections, 1951 |
Won |
1954 | MLA | Gudiyatham |
INC | V. K. Kothandaraman | By Election | Won |
1957 | MLA | Sattur |
INC | Jayarama Reddiar | 1957 Madras legislative assembly election |
Won |
1962 | MLA | Sattur |
INC | P. Ramamoorthy | 1962 Madras legislative assembly election |
Won |
1967 | MLA | Virudhunagar |
INC | P. Seenivasan | 1967 Tamil Nadu state assembly election |
Lost[36] |
1969 | MP | Nagercoil |
INC | M. Mathias | By Election | Won |
1971 | MP | Nagercoil |
INC(O) | M. C. Balan | Indian General Elections, 1971 |
Won |
Nagercoil by-election victory
The death of
Personal life
During his tenure as Chief Minister, when the municipality of Virudhunagar provided a direct water connection to his house in his hometown, Kamarajar ordered it to be disconnected immediately as he did not want any special privileges. He refused to use the Z-level security that was provided to him as the CM of Tamil Nadu and instead travelled with just one police patrol vehicle. He did not marry, did not own any property and was never tempted by power.[10][failed verification] When he died, he left behind ₹130, 2 pairs of sandals, 4 shirts, 4 dhotis and a few books.[38]
Death
Kamaraj died at his home, on Gandhi Jayanti day (2 October 1975), which also was the 12th anniversary of his resignation. He was aged 72 and died in his sleep due to a heart attack.[39]
Legacy
- In 1976, he was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.
- In 2004, the Government of India issued a commemorative coin of ₹ 100 and ₹ 5 denomination to mark the centenary celebrations of him.
- Terminal-1 of Chennai International Airport is named "Kamaraj Terminal".
- Ennore Port in Chennai was renamed to Kamarajar Port Limited.
- Maraimalai Nagar Railway Station also named after him as Maraimalai Nagar Kamarajar Railway Station.
- His statue was erected in Parliament of India and Marina Beach to honor him.
- Madurai University is renamed as Madurai Kamaraj University in his honor.[4][40]
- North Parade Road in Bengaluru and Parliament Road in New Delhiwere named as "Kamaraj Road".
- Marina Beach Road in Chennai and Ettayapuram Road in Thoothukudi were named as "Kamarajar Salai".
Popular culture
In 2004 a Tamil-language film titled Kamaraj was made based on the life history of Kamaraj.[41] The English version of the film was released on DVD in 2007.
References
- ^ a b Ramakrishnan, T (8 July 2009). "Revised edition of book on Kamaraj to be launched". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ Crusading Congressman, Frontline Magazine[usurped], hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001
- ^ LOK SABHA DEBATES (PDF). Government of India. p. 22. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ a b He raised the bar with simplicity. The Hindu. 16 July 2008
- ^ The commonsense politician, Frontline Magazine, 17–30 August 2002[usurped]
- ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Chhibber, Maneesh (2 October 2018). "K. Kamaraj: The southern stalwart who gave India two PMs". The Print. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ a b "A Brief Personal and Political Biography of Kamaraj Early Life" (PDF). Shodganga. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ a b Kapur, Raghu Pati (1966). Kamaraj, the iron man. Deepak Associates. p. 12. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014.
- ^ a b Mani, C D S (23 October 2013). "In dire straits, Kamaraj kin get Congress aid for education". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ a b Early Life of K. Kamaraj. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 24–25.
- ^ [1]
- ^ K.Kamaraj. virudhunagar.nic.in Archived 7 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Kandaswamy, P. (2001). The Political Career of K. Kamaraj. Concept Publishing Company. p. 30.
- ^ a b Bhatnagar, R. K. (13 October 2009). "Tributes To Kamaraj". Asian Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- ^ Freedom Movement In Madras Presidency With Special Reference To The Role Of Kamaraj (1920–1945), Page 3
- ^ George Joseph, a true champion of subaltern Archived 26 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "K Kamaraj 116th birth anniv: Rare pics of 'Kingmaker'". Deccan Herald. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7011-767-4.
- ISBN 978-81-209-1307-3.
- )
- ISBN 978-81-209-1307-3.
- ISBN 9780801897238.
- ^ "RSS Chief's Call for National Cow Protection Law Echoes a Familiar Pattern". The Wire. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-8475-053-9.
- ^ Marvel, Ishan. "Fifty Years Ago, Hindutva Groups Led the First Attack on the Indian Parliament". The Caravan. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55615/1/lsd_01_07_23-08-1954.pdf page 82
- ISBN 978-81-8379-468-8.
- ISBN 978-1-317-23525-5.
- ISBN 9788185119434. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ K Kamaraj. dpcc.co.in Archived 18 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Will Mamata Banerjee's Hindi handicap hurt her ambition to be prime minister?". December 2016. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016.
- ISBN 978-93-5328-693-4.
- ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 164.
- ^ Election Commission of India. "Statistical Report on General Election 1967" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ^ P. Kandaswamy. The political career of K. Kamraj. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 122–124.
- ^ Pioneer, The. "To regain lost glory, Congress needs a Kamaraj as its leader". The Pioneer.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ Man of the people Archived 6 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Tribune, 4 October 1975
- ^ "Film on former CM Kamaraj to be re-released with additional content' - Times of India". The Times of India. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2020.