Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan (22 April 1892 – 25 September 1974) was the
Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936 (143 Days).
He was also the last President of the Justice Party. P. T. Rajan was born in a Thondaimandala mudaliar family in Uthamapalayam. His ancestors were from Kanchipuram. He attended
The Leys School, Cambridge
The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Histo ...
and later, Jesus College, Oxford. He graduated in history and law, and practiced as an advocate for some time before joining the Justice Party.
Rajan was elected to the Madras Legislative Council as a Justice Party candidate in 1920 and served as a legislator till his defeat in 1937. He held various offices such as the Minister of Public Works and then, the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency. From 1939 to 1944, Rajan supported Periyar but broke off and headed the rebel Justice Party till 1957. Rajan was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1952 and served as a legislator from 1952 to 1957. Rajan died in 1974 at the age of 82.
Rajan's son
Palanivel Rajan
Ponnambala Thyaga Rajan Palanivel Rajan (27 February 1932 – 20 May 2006) was an Indian politician.
Born into an aristocratic landlord Kondaikatti Thondaimandala Vellala family in Uthamapalayam. He did his schooling from Trinity College, Kan ...
served as a minister of the
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 ...
and speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2001. Rajan's grandson Dr.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan
Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR) is an Indian politician and the current Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 2016 and 2021 from Madurai Central.
Early life
He is the son of the late P ...
(son of
Palanivel Rajan
Ponnambala Thyaga Rajan Palanivel Rajan (27 February 1932 – 20 May 2006) was an Indian politician.
Born into an aristocratic landlord Kondaikatti Thondaimandala Vellala family in Uthamapalayam. He did his schooling from Trinity College, Kan ...
) is the finance minister of Tamil Nadu from May 2021.
Early life
Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan
[ South Indian Celebrities, Pg 54] was born in 1892 in
Theni
Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, located in a distance of 70km from Madurai. It is known for the large-scale trading of garlic, c ...
and belonged to the
Kondaikatti Vellalar community. He was educated at
Ley's School,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
and graduated in history
from
Jesus College,
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1915.
He later studied law at the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar in 1917
and practised as an advocate
before joining the
Justice Party in the early 1920s.
Political career
Rajan stood as a Justice Party candidate in the 1920 elections and was elected as a member of 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 ...
. He was also instrumental in getting
W. P. A. Soundrapandian Nadar nominated to the Madras Legislative Council as a Justice Party nominee.
In government
In 1930, when the Justice Party returned to power after a gap of 4 years, Rajan was appointed Minister of Public Works. He served as a minister in the governments of
P. Munuswamy Naidu and the
Raja of Bobbili
Raja Sri Ravu Svetachalapati Sir Ramakrishna Ranga Rao KCIE (20 February 1901 – 10 March 1978) was an Indian politician and ''zamindar'' who served as the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 5 November 1932 to 4 April 1936 and 24 ...
.
Encyclopedia of Political Parties
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
, Pg 150 On 4 April 1936, he succeeded the Raja of Bobbili as the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency and held the post till 24 August 1936, when the Raja of Bobbili once again became the chief minister.
He was knighted on 1 February 1937.
In 1939, he joined
Periyar
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the ' ...
and wholeheartedly supported his demand for secession from India.
However, he broke off with a few others in 1944 when Periyar renamed the Justice Party as
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, also called Thanthai Periyar. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a " ...
. He was against the Principles of Periyar as Atheism and also since Periyar converted the political party into a non-political social organization.
As President of Justice Party
Rajan along with a few dissidents floated a new Justice Party and claimed that their organisation was the original Justice Party.
B. Ramachandra Reddi, who was President of the Madras Legislative Council between 1930 and 1937 was tentatively elected Party President
but resigned in 1945 and was succeeded by Rajan.
The Justice Party did not contest in the 1946 Assembly elections
but participated in the 1951 elections, the first as a part of independent India.
The Justice Party contested nine seats as an unrecognised state-level party of which the party won one.
Rajan stood from Madurai North as well as Cumbum.
While Rajan lost badly from Madurai North winning only 11% of the total votes polled and finished third, he won by a margin of 11,359 votes from Cumbum.
The Justice Party did not contest in the 1957 Assembly elections and was eventually dissolved.
Rajan contested as an independent from Uthamapalayam in the 1957 Assembly elections and polled 24,256 votes losing to K. Pandiaraj of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 6,303 votes.
Rajan did not contest any more elections after the defeat.
Political activism and ideology
P. T. Rajan, as a leading non-Brahmin leader, supported the appointment of non-Brahmin trustees to temples in Tamil Nadu.
In the early 1950s, through his efforts, the present panchaloha idol of Lord Iyappan was installed at Sabarimalai and a procession was taken all over
Madras state
Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...
.
A road in
K. K. Nagar, Chennai
K.K. Nagar (shortened from Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar) is a neighbourhood located in the southern part of Chennai, India. This is situated west of Ashok Nagar, Chennai, Ashok Nagar and the Chennai International Airport, Chennai Airport is a ...
has been named in his memory as "Sir P.T. Rajan Road".
Family
P. T. Rajan's uncle M. T. Subramania Mudaliar of Uthamapalayam was a member of the Dravidian Association and one of the early leaders of the Non-Brahmin Movement. He was always consulted with regard to the choice of Ministers by early Chief Ministers such as the Raja of Panagal.
Encyclopedia of Political Parties
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
, Pg 128
P. T. Rajan's son
Palanivel Rajan
Ponnambala Thyaga Rajan Palanivel Rajan (27 February 1932 – 20 May 2006) was an Indian politician.
Born into an aristocratic landlord Kondaikatti Thondaimandala Vellala family in Uthamapalayam. He did his schooling from Trinity College, Kan ...
was a politician of the
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 ...
.
He served as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2001
and In 2006, he served as the Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments in the Government of
M. Karunanidhi briefly before his death on 20 May 2006.
Rajan's grandson Dr.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan
Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR) is an Indian politician and the current Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 2016 and 2021 from Madurai Central.
Early life
He is the son of the late P ...
(son of
Palanivel Rajan
Ponnambala Thyaga Rajan Palanivel Rajan (27 February 1932 – 20 May 2006) was an Indian politician.
Born into an aristocratic landlord Kondaikatti Thondaimandala Vellala family in Uthamapalayam. He did his schooling from Trinity College, Kan ...
) is the finance minister of Tamil nadu from 07.05.2021.
Criticism
Rajan's lavish spendings as Minister for Development under the Munuswamy Naidu regime at the height of the
Great Depression along with those of others, invited the wrath of the
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
.
The newspaper ''India'' reported in the 25 March 1932 edition:
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajan, P. T.
Politicians from Madurai
1892 births
1974 deaths
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
Indian barristers
Knights Bachelor
Tamil Nadu politicians
Indian Knights Bachelor
People from Theni district
20th-century Indian lawyers
20th-century Indian politicians