Singanallur Venkatraman Raju (1933 – 19 May 2015) was an Indian politician, best known for his association with the Swatantra Party and his editorship of '' Freedom First'' magazine.

Early life and career

Raju was born in

Singanallur Singanallur is a major residential locality of the city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the banks of Noyyal river, which runs to the southern boundary of the locality. It is situated in the eastern part of the city, and is ...

; Venkatraman was his father's name, and Raju his first name. Raju was hired by C. Rajagopalachari, the former

Governor General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

and retired

Chief Minister of Madras The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, bu ...

, on 16 December 1959 as the Office Secretary of Swatantra Party, which was launched four months earlier. It took Raju one year to shed his socialism and become a member of the party—of which he remained a member till the end of his life.Madhavankutty Pillai
"Last Man Standing"
'' Open''. 5 April 2014.

''Freedom First''

When Swatantra Party faded away in 1974, Raju, along with Geeta Doctor, took up full-time editorship of ''Freedom First'' in 1978. The ''Freedom First'' magazine had been started in 1953 by the Indian Committee for Cultural Freedom, which was established by

Minoo Masani Minocher Rustom "Minoo" Masani (20 November 1905 – 27 May 1998) was an Indian politician, a leading figure of the erstwhile Swatantra Party. He was a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Gujarat's Rajkot constituency in the second, ...

in Mumbai. Raju raised funds for its continuation in print, and funds for digitization of the magazine since its inception.

Petition against socialism

In 1996 the Maharashtra unit of the Swatantra Party, led by Raju and its general secretary, L. R. Sampat, decided to revive the Swatantra Party. To register it again and reclaim the party symbol, the star, they approached the

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

. But Indian law demands that all parties swear allegiance to socialism, in accordance with a 1989 amendment of India’s Representation of People’s Act. They refused and, instead, filed a writ petition in the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...

challenging this provision. When both Sampat and Raju had died, the High Court had still not held its first hearing on their petition.

Indian Liberal Group

In the late 1990s, he took upon himself the task of reviving the

Indian Liberal Group The Indian Liberal Group is a think tank founded in 1965 by Minoo Masani, author and parliamentarian, to promote the liberal point of view and educate the public on the concept of libertarianism. Its headquarters is in Mumbai. Meera Sanyal serve ...

, a platform for liberal values that Minoo Masani had started in 1965.Niranjan Rajadhyaksha
"S.V. Raju: the last Swatantrite"
'' Mint''. 19 May 2015. He remained its President till 2010. Upon its dissolution, he became co-Director of LiberalsIndia for Good Governance.

Publications

References

"Liberalism's last lion: In memory of S. V. Raju and the Swatantra Party"
'' Business Standard''. 23 May 2015.
एस व्ही राजू
''

Loksatta ''Loksatta'' (''Lōksattā'') is a Marathi daily newspaper in Maharashtra, India. It is published by The Indian Express Group and was launched on 14 January 1948. ''Loksatta'' is published out of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Palghar, Ahmednag ...

''. 23 May 2015. * Samanth Subramanian
"India’s last ‘anti-socialist’ dies"
'' The National''. 19 May 2015.

External links

''Freedom First''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raju, S.V. 1933 births 2015 deaths Tamil Nadu politicians