Kochi Rajya Prajamandalam is a political party which was formed in 1941 at

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in connection with the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. E. Ikkanda Warrier,

V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan V. R. Krishnan Ezhuthachan (1909–2004) was an Indian freedom fighter, Gandhian, journalist, trade unionist and Indian National Congress leader from Thrissur city in Kerala, India. Ezhuthachan was the founder general secretary of the Kochi Rajy ...

, S. Neelakanda Iyer, and

Kurur Neelakandan Namboodiripad Kurur Neelakandan Namboodiripad was a freedom fighter and disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. He took part in Quit India Movement, Salt March, Guruvayur Satyagraha, Vaikom Satyagraha and Swadeshi movement. Political life Kurur Neelakandan Namboodirip ...

were the key people in the formation of the party. Eminent politicians like

Panampilly Govinda Menon Panampilly Govinda Menon (1 October 1906 – 23 May 1970) was an Indian politician, freedom fighter, and lawyer. He was born in a village near Kathikkudam and completed graduation from '' St.Thomas College, Thrissur''. He started his legal pra ...

K. Karunakaran Kannoth Karunakaran (5 July 1918 – 23 December 2010) was an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress (INC). He served as the Chief Minister of Kerala four times during the late 1970s through the mid 1990s. He is the ...

worked in the party.

History

A group of young people who were displeased with the functioning of political movements in the erstwhile Kochi state, at the meeting held on 26 January 1941 under the leadership of

, decided to form the Kochi Rajya Prajamandalam. The party was formally inaugurated on 9 February 1941 at Manikandanalthara,

and selected S. Neelakanda Iyer as President and Ezhuthachan as general secretary. The primary objective of party was to end political

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

of the King of Cochin and gain equality and political power for the people. The party also worked to spread the use of

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as ''swadeshi'' (self-sufficiency) for the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent, and the term is used throughout India, Pakistan ...

, prohibit

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

, and gain progress in the field of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. Prajamandalam's work to save people from calamity during the flood of 1941 gained acceptance for the party. The party formed a flood relief committee during that time. Prajamandalam formed an organisation called which worked primarily to end the difficulties farmers faced due to

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

. stood for permanent ownership for farmers in their field. Their protests caused acceptance of the bill on 13 February 1943 at the

Cochin Legislative Council The Cochin Legislative Council was a unicameral legislative body of the Cochin State that functioned from 1925 to 1948 before the merger of Cochin and Travancore to form the Travancore-Cochin state and the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly ...

. Prajamandalam decided to conduct its first annual meeting in 1942 at

Irinjalakkuda Irinjalakuda is a municipal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of Irinjalakuda Revenue Division and Mukundapuram Taluk. After Thrissur, this town has most number of administrative, law-enforcement and judicial o ...

, but the diwan of Cochin, A. F. W. Dixon, banned it. However, some leaders came forward to conduct the meeting. Many leaders including Karunakaran were arrested and faced brutal torture in jail. In connection with the

Quit India movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

on 5 August 1942, a conference was conducted under the leadership of

Gandhiji Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

for

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Iyer and Ezhuthachan attended the conference by representing Prajamandalam. As part of the Quit India movement, Prajamandalam actively participated in strikes. During that time there was strong ban in functioning of the press, Prajamandalam started a newspaper called ''

Deenabandhu Deenabandhu is a defunct Malayalam language newspaper printed daily and published from the Thrissur city, Kerala in India. The newspaper was the first periodicals published from Kingdom of Cochin which supported the Indian Independence Moveme ...

.'' The newspaper helped to strengthen freedom movements. In 1945 Prajamandalam faced election and gained a majority in the Cochin Legislative Council. Prajamandalam chose opposition and worked for responsible government. The party also worked for the Temple Entry movement also. Prajamandalam is one of the first political parties which dispersed after completion of its objective. Later Prajamandalam merged with

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 ...

References

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History

References

Further reading