K. Santhanam

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Shri K. Santhanam (born 1895 - died February 28, 1980) was an Indian politician.

Santhanam attained his academic excellence as a student of mathematics and later as a distinguished attorney from the Law College of Madras, now known as Chennai.

At the first call of Mahatma Gandhi, a 25 year-old Santhanam plunged into the freedom struggle, abandoning his personal assets and professional life. During this period, while serving a jail term with Nehru, Santhanam lost his wife in Gandhi Ashram.

Santhanam served as the first Railway Minister of free India in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet, followed by a career as the Governor of Vindhya Pradesh. In 1963, Lal Bahadur Sastri appointed Santhanam to preside over the corruption committee. Because of its thorough investigative work and recommendations, the Committee earned a reputation as Santhanam's Committee on Corruption. He was also instrumental in shaping the politics in post-Independence Tamil Nadu, through his close association with Rajaji and Kamaraj.

Santhanam was endowed with great penmanship. He served as the first editor of the Indian Express (1933-1940) and later worked as the joint editor of the Hindustan Times (1943-1948). He was well-versed in Tamil, Sanskrit, and English. His literary contributions are many. Most of Santhanam's work was published by Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, including An Anthology of Indian Literature (1969), Gospel of Gandhi (1967), and British Imperialism and Indian Nationalism (1972). Santhanam also translated Kālidāsa's Shakuntala and Bhavabuti's Uttara Rama Charitam, both from Sanskrit.