The fourth legislative assembly of Madras state (3 March 1967 – 5 January 1971) was constituted in March 1967 after the assembly election which was held in February 1967. The assembly was the first non-

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

government of the state and, under chief-minister

C.N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

, passed several key acts including the renaming of the state to

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and the abolition of the

three-language formula The three-language formula is a language learning policy first formulated in 1968 by the Ministry of Education of the Government of India in consultation with the states. History The first recommendation for a three-language policy was made by the ...

in the state which had previously required

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

to be taught in schools.

Overview

The assembly was elected in the general election of February 1967 and consisted of 234 members including 42 members representing

scheduled caste The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

s, two members representing

scheduled tribe The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

s and one nominated member. In that election,

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

, under the leadership of

, won a majority. Annadurai was elected Chief minister as a member of the Legislative Council, the State's upper house. On 18 July 1967, the assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to change the name of Madras State to

. This was achieved through the ''Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968 (Central Act 53 of 1968)'' which was passed by the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

and came into force on 14 January 1969, with the assembly being renamed the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

. After the death of C. N. Annadurai in office, M. Karunanidhi became Chief Minister in 1969. This assembly marked the most dramatic change in Madras State politics with the first state-government by the DMK party. Since this assembly the previously dominant

has never returned to power in the state.

Significant achievements

During the tenure of C. N. Annadurai the assembly passed several key acts. Self-respect marriages, those not requiring the presence of a priest, were legalized through the Hindu Marriage (Madras Amendment) Act, 1967 which was introduced and passed during this assembly. In addition the

was scrapped and replaced by a "two-language" former in which "

was eliminated from the curriculum, only English and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

were to be taught". Other measures included the sale of rice at a fixed price in the suburbs of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and the sponsoring of research into the Tamil poem

Tirukkuṛaḷ The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text ...

at Madras State universities.

Annadurai's Cabinet

The council of ministers in C. N. Annadurai's cabinet (6 March 1967 – 10 February 1969).

Karunanidhi's cabinet

The council of ministers in Karunanidhi's cabinet (10 February 1969 – 4 January 1971). ;Changes *S. P. Adithanar who step down as Speaker of the Assembly and became Minister of Co-operation.

References

{{Reflist Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

Overview

Significant achievements

Annadurai's Cabinet

Karunanidhi's cabinet

See also

References