K. Kamaraj

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K.Kamaraj

Perunthalaivar Kamaraj
Born: July 15, 1903
Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu
Died: October 2, 1975
Chennai ,Tamil Nadu
Occupation: Politician, Social Worker

Kumaraswami Kamaraj Nadar, better known as K. Kamaraj Nadar (July 15, 1903 – October 02, 1975) was an Indian politician widely known as a kingmaker in Indian politics, widely known for his honesty, integrity and simplicity. He was involved in the Indian independence movement and was a close ally of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. He was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966. He was affectionately known as the Gandhi of the South, the Black Gandhi, and in Tamil Nadu, his home state he is still hailed for facilitating the spread of education to millions of the rural poor during the 1950s. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976.

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[edit] Early life

Kamraj was born on July 15, 1903, to Kumarasamy Nadar and Sivakami Ammal at Virudhunagar near Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His parents were from a trading family. His real name was Kamakshi Kumaraswamy Nadar ( the Nadars are a mercantile caste) but was affectionately shortened to Raja by his mother, Sivakami Ammal. His father, Kumarswamy Nadar, was a coconut merchant. Kamaraj was enrolled at the local elementary school, the Nayanar Vidyalaya, but was later shifted to the high school Kshatriya Vidyalaya. Unfortunately his father died within a year of Kamaraj's enrollment in school. Kamaraj's mother sold all jewelry except her earrings and deposited the money with a local merchant and cared for the entire family on the monthly interest that the money earned.

[edit] Education

Kamaraj dropped out of school when he was in the sixth grade. When he entered mainstream public life he felt handicapped and realized the importance of a good education. He educated himself during his periods of imprisonment.

[edit] Start in Politics and Freedom Struggle

Kamaraj joined as an apprentice in his maternal uncle Karuppiah's cloth shop after dropping out of school. He would slip out from the shop to join processions and attend public meetings addressed by orators like Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu and George Joseph. His relatives frowned upon Kamaraj 's budding interest in politics. They sent him to Thiruvananthapuram to work at another uncle's timer shop.

At the age of 16, Kamaraj enrolled himself as full-time worker of the Congress. He invited speakers, organized meetings and collected funds for the party. He also participated in the march to Vedaranyam led by C. Rajagopalachari as part of the Salt Satyagraha of March 1930.

Kamaraj was arrested and sent to Alipore Jail in Calcutta for two years. He was 27 at the time of his arrest and was released in 1931 following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Kamaraj was implicated in the Virudhunagar bomb case two years later. Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu and George Joseph argued on Kamaraj's behalf and proved the charges to be baseless. Kamaraj was arrested again in 1940 and sent to Vellore Central Prison while he was on his way to Wardha to get Gandhiji's approval for a list of satyagrahis.

While still in jail, Kamaraj was elected Chairman of the Municipal Council of Madurai. Nine months later, upon his release, Kamaraj went straight to the Municipality and tendered his resignation from his post. He felt that "one should not accept any post to which one could not do full justice."

Kamaraj was arrested once more in 1942 and sentenced to three years in the Amaravathi prison for spreading propaganda material for the Quit India movement initiated by Gandhiji. While in prison, Kamaraj read books and continued his self-education.

[edit] With Satyamurti

Kamaraj's political guru and inspiration was S. Satyamurti, orator and parliamentarian. Satyamurti found in Kamaraj "an efficient, loyal, indefatigable worker and skillful organizer (p. 147, Pakshirajan)." Both developed a deep friendship and complemented each others' skills. In 1936, Satyamurti was elected President of the Provincial Congress Committee and he appointed Kamaraj the General Secretary. Four years later they swapped positions. The party base was strengthened under their leadership. So deep was Kamaraj's devotion to Satyamurti that when India gained independence, he first went to Satyamurti's house and hoisted the Indian flag there. On his election as Chief Minister, Kamaraj went to Satyamurti's house and garlanded his photo and paid his respects to the leader's widow.

[edit] Chief Minister

On April 13, 1954, K. Kamaraj reluctantly became the Chief Minister of Madras Province. Kamaraj removed the family vocation based Kula Kalvi Thittam(Hereditary Education Policy) introduced by Rajaji.He reopened the 6000 schools closed by Rajaji for financial reasons and also added 12000 more schools. The State made immense strides in education and trade. New schools were opened, where poor rural students were to walk no more than 3 miles to their nearest school. Better facilities were added to existing ones. No village remained without a primary school and no panchayat without a high school. Kamaraj strove to eradicate illiteracy by introducing free and compulsory education up to the eleventh standard. He introduced the Mid-day meals Scheme to provide at least one meal per day to the lakhs of poor children (later popularised by M.G. Ramachandran). He introduced free school uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among young minds.

Chief Minister Kamaraj with MGR
Chief Minister Kamaraj with MGR

Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for three consecutive terms. Kamaraj noticed that the Congress party was slowly losing its vigor . He came up with a plan which was called the "Kamaraj Plan". He proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign form their posts and devote all their energy to the re-vitalization of the Congress. On October 2, 1963, he resigned from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Post. To everyone's surprise, Kamaraj nominated C. Subramaniam and M. Bhakthavatsalam, who had contested his leadership, to the newly formed cabinet. Kamaraj gave simple advice to his ministers, "Face the problem. Don't evade it. Find a solution, however small... . People will be satisfied if you do something.". Followed by him a number of Central and State ministers like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jagjivan Ram, Morarji Desai and S.K. Patil followed suit and resigned from their posts.In 1964, Kamaraj was elected Congress President and he successfully navigated the party and the nation through the stormy years following Nehru's death.

[edit] Last Years

On October 2, 1975, Gandhi Jayanti, Kamaraj awoke from his afternoon nap feeling uneasy. His housekeeper, Vairavan, rang up his physician. While he was on his way out, Kamaraj said, "Vairavan, put out the lights when you go out." K. Kamaraj died that day in his sleep. He was honored with the highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976.

[edit] Sum up

In 2004 a Tamil Movie was released titled "Kamaraj",the English version titled as "The King Maker".

[edit] External links

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