Rao Bahadur __NOTOC__ Rao may refer to: Geography * Rao, West Sumatra, one of the districts of West Sumatra, Indonesia * Råö, a locality in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden Transport * Dr. Leite Lopes–Ribeirão Preto State Airport , ...

Namasivayam Sivaraj (29 September 1892 – 29 September 1964) was an Indian lawyer, politician and

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 design ...

activist from the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language— ...

Early life and education

Sivaraj was born into a Paraiyer family to Namsivayam, an accounts officer, on 29 September 1892 in the town of

Cuddapah Kadapa (colonial spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of the 2022 Census of India, the city had a popul ...

in the then

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

. His ancestors were from the town of

Poonamallee Poonamallee is suburb of Chennai, India under the Chennai Metropolitan Area. It was historically called ''Pushpagirimangalam'', later renamed in Tamil as ''Poovirundhavalli'' (), and now colloquially called as ''Poondhamalli''. It is a town in ...

near

Madras 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 ...

. N. Sivaraj passed his matriculation in 1907 and did B.A from Presidency College, Madras in 1911. In 1915 he graduated as a lawyer from the

Madras Law College Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. It was established in ...

and practised as a junior under Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer. He worked as a lecturer in the Madras Law College for a period of thirteen years.

Family

Sivaraj was married to Annai Meenambal and had four children.

Politics

Sivaraj was one of the prominent leaders in Depressed Class Federation. He was one of the founding members of the Justice Party in 1917 and supported it till 1926. He was mayor in Madras Municipal Corporation in 1945 and served till 1946. He was nominated to the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was init ...

in 1926 and served as member till 1937. From 1937 to 1945, Sivaraj served as a member of Imperial Legislative Council. He participated in the 1952, 1957 and 1962 Lok Sabha elections and served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members ofte ...

from

Chengalpattu Chengalpattu, previously known as Chingleput, is a city and the headquarters of Chengalpattu district of the state Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located near to the industrial and IT hub. It is the headquarters of the district and is away fro ...

constituency. He was an active member of Self Respect Movement, Anti-Brahminism movement and Women's Rights movement in Tamil Nadu along with Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy. All India

Scheduled Castes Federation The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The 'Training School for Entrance to Polit ...

was a first all India political party exclusively for the Depressed Class founded by

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

in a national convention held at Nagpur during 17–20 July 1942. It was presided by Sivaraj and he was elected as its first President. When the

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The 'Training School for Entrance to Poli ...

was founded in 1957, he was again elected as its first president and continued working to establish the organisation until he died in 1964.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sivaraj, N. 1892 births 1964 deaths Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India Mayors of Chennai India MPs 1957–1962 20th-century Indian lawyers People from Kadapa district Indian Tamil politicians Activists from Tamil Nadu People from Kanchipuram district Republican Party of India politicians Scheduled Castes Federation politician