Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi (9 November 1909 – 4 March 1967) or Naganatha Sethupathi was an Indian politician of the Justice Party and later, the

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 ...

and head of the ''

zamindari A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

'' of

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

from 1929 to 1967. He was a member of the Madras Legislative Assembly from 1951 to 1967 and served as a minister in

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

and

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

's cabinets. He was popular as the main political opponent of

U. Muthuramalingam Thevar Ukkirapandi Muthuramalinga Thevar (30 October 1908 – 30 October 1963), also known as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, was an Indian freedom struggle fighter, politician, patriarch of Thevar community and a close accomplice of Subash Chand ...

. Sethupathi had a passionate liking for horses and was a fine sportsman. He represented the

Madras cricket team The Tamil Nadu cricket team is a domestic cricket team run by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association representing the state of Tamil Nadu, India.It has been one of the most dominating teams in white ball cricket in domestic circuit The team plays in Ranj ...

in four

first-class matches First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

Early life

Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi was born to

Raja Rajeswara Sethupathi Raja Rajeswara Sethupathi ( ta, ராஜ ராஜேஸ்வர சேதுபதி) or Muthuramalinga Sethupathy (3 June 1889 – 1929) was the Raja of Ramnad from 1903 to 1929. Early life and education Raja Rajeswara Sethupathi was the ...

or Muthuramalinga Sethupathi who ruled the estate of Ramnad on 9 November 1909. Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi had an English education and graduated in law. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his father in 1929. As soon as Shanmugha took over the administration of the estate, the land became embroiled in a number of disputes and lengthy court cases. Between 1935 and 1945, the estate was administered by the

Court of Wards The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and liv ...

Politics

Electoral records

He served as the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

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 ...

. He was elected to 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 ...

as an

candidate from Ramanathapuram constituency in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and 1962 elections and as an Independent candidate in 1957 election.1957 Madras State Election Results, Election Commission of India

Justice Party

Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi joined politics at an early age. He was elected 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 initia ...

as a candidate of the Justice Party and served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council until 1937 when he lost to Pasumpon Muthuramalingam Thevar of the Indian National Congress. During his period of service with the Justice Party, he served in the Economic Depression Enquiry Committee which enquired into the causes and impact of the Great Depression in Madras Presidency.

Indian National Congress

Shanmugha Rajeswara joined the Indian National Congress in 1946 and was elected again to the Madras Legislative Council as an Indian National Congress candidate. He stood in the 1951 elections from Ramanathapuram assembly constituency and was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly. He served as the Minister of House Rent Control from 10 April 1952 to 13 September 1953 and as the Minister of Public Works from 13 September 1953 to 31 March 1957.

Other interests

Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi had a passionate liking for horses. He owned a stable of over 50 horses in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. He also owned an extensive car collection including Rolls Royces and Bentleys. The Raja owned extensive land in different parts of Madras city. Hotel Woodlands is located on the exact spot where the Raja's official residence in the city had earlier stood. The Shanmugha Sethupathi Cup for horse racing has been instituted in his memory. Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi was also a fine cricketer. He played four first class matches during the 1941/42 and 1943/44 seasons for the Madras cricket team scoring 129 runs at an average of 21.50. He also played for the Indians against the Europeans.

Death

Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi died on 4 March 1967 and was succeeded as the titular Raja of Ramnad by his son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sethupathi, Shanmugha Rajeswara 1909 births 1967 deaths Tamil Nadu cricketers Tamil Nadu politicians Tamil sportspeople Tamil Nadu ministers Indian cricketers Justice Party (India) politicians Indian National Congress politicians Madras MLAs 1952–1957 Madras MLAs 1957–1962 Madras MLAs 1962–1967