The Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress (TTNC) was a political party in the Indian state of Travancore-Cochin. The party was led by

A. Nesamony A. Nesamony, sometimes known as Marshal Nesamony, was a political leader from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, India. He was the second son of Kesavan Appavu Nadar, born on 12 June 1895 at Nesarpuram, Palliyadi in Vilavancode Taluk, Kanya ...

History

The

Kingdom of Travancore The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

was a

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

of India. Its population included an ethnic

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...

majority and a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

minority; the later suffered linguistic discrimination in education, and leaders of Tamil organisations expressed concern about disadvantage from lack of economic development. The Tamil minority formed several political parties, one of them being Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress. The party's original platform was the formation of a separate Tamil state within Travancore. The party contested the first Travancore constituent assembly election in 1948 and won 14 seats in the 120-seat legislature. In 1949, as part of the integration of India, Kingdom of Travancore merged with

Kingdom of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy w ...

, another princely state, to form Travancore-Cochin.

Rajpramukh Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain Indian provinces and states. Background The British Indian Empire, which includ ...

became the Governor. The Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress party won 9 or 10 seats in the first Travancore-Cochin assembly election. In the assembly, it supported 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 ...

to form a ruling coalition. It withdrew this support after 19 months because of differences with Congress over policy regarding Tamil-speaking parts of the state. In the second assembly election in 1954, TTNC won 12 seats. In the same year, TTNC called for the merger of Tamil-dominated

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

s such as

Thovalai Thovalai is a small village located in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. The area is well known in India for its production of flowers, especially jasmine. The taluk was among several in Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the ...

, Agasteeswaram,

Kalkulam Kalkulam is a small village located in Kalkulam taluk, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The taluk was among several in Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 were transferred from Thir ...

Vilavancode Vilavancode, also spelt as Viḷavaṅgōḍu, is a town panchayat in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu state, India. It is part of territory among several taluks that were with the Thiruvananthapuram district that with the passage of the Sta ...

, Neyyatinkara,

Shenkottai Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,823, t ...

Devikulam Devikulam () is a Grama Panchayat and small hill station of about from Munnar in the Idukki District of Kerala State, India. It lies above sea level. Etymology The name Devikulam is a conjunction of the words ''Devi'', from the goddess Devi a ...

and Peerumadu with

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 c ...

. In August 1954, a street protest organised by the TTNC in support of these mergers took a violent turn. Police attempting to maintain control opened fire on protesters. Four people were killed and about a dozen sustained injuries. Following the recommendations of the

States Reorganisation Commission The States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Justice Fazal ...

, the ''

States Reorganisation Act, 1956 The States Reorganisation act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...

'' restructured Indian regional jurisdictions. In this process, some Tamil regions (present day

Kanyakumari district Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nad ...

) of Travancore-Cochin merged with Madras state (present day

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 ...

) on 1 November 1956. Other Tamil-majority areas remained in Travancore–Cochin, including Neyyatinkkara South, Nedumangad East, Devikulam and Peerumedu. Following this reorganisation, the Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress successfully fielded a candidate in the Travancore–Cochin state election; once in the Assembly, he lobbied for amalgamation of further Tamil areas into the Tamil Nadu state. After the merger of the regions, the leaders dissolved the party in 1957 and joined the ruling Congress party.

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 30em Political parties in Travancore–Cochin Defunct political parties in India Political parties established in 1947 Political parties disestablished in 1957 1947 establishments in India 1957 disestablishments in India