List of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
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The complete list of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu consists of the heads of government in the history of the state of Tamil Nadu in India since 1920. The area under the present-day state of Tamil Nadu has been part of different territorial configurations under Madras Presidency and Madras State in its history. [1][2]
Contents |
[edit] List of Chief Ministers
[edit] Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency, headquartered in Fort St. George, was a province of British India that comprise present day Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of North Kerala, the coastal and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, and the Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts of Karnataka. It was established in 1653 to be the headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandel Coast.
The territory under the presidency initially comprised only Madraspatnam and surrounding regions. But, after the Anglo-French wars and the consequent alliance between the English East India Company and the Nawab of Arcot, it expanded to comprise the region from Northern Circars to Cape Comorin. Alongside, the governance structure also evolved from a modest secretariat with a single secretary for the Public Department in 1670 to six departments overseen by a Chief Secretary by 1920. With the enactment of Government of India Act of 1919, the first legislature was formed in 1920 after general elections.[3] The term of the legislative council was three years. It had 132 members of whom 34 were nominated by the Governor and the rest were elected.
Under the Government of India Act, 1935, a bicameral legislature was setup with a legislative assembly consisting of 215 members and a legislative council having 56 members. The first legislative assembly under this act was constituted in July 1937. The legislative council was a permanent body with a third of its members retiring every three years.[4]
In 1939, the British government declared India's entrance into World War II without consulting provincial governments. Congress protested by asking all its elected representatives to resign from the governments.[5] Congress came back to power in 1946 after new provincial elections.[6]
| #[7] | Name | Took office | Left office | Term[8] | Political party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. Subbarayalu Reddiar | 17 December 1920 | 11 July 1921 | 1 | Justice Party[9] | |
| 2 | Panagal Raja | 11 July 1921 | 3 December 1926 | 1 | Justice Party[9] | |
| 3 | P. Subbarayan | 4 December 1926 | 27 October 1930 | 1 | Unaffiliated[9] | |
| 4 | P. Munuswamy Naidu | 27 October 1930 | 4 November 1932 | 1 | Justice Party[9] | |
| 5 | Ramakrishna Ranga Rao | 5 November 1932 | 4 April 1936 | 1 | Justice Party[9] | |
| 6 | P. T. Rajan | 4 April 1936 | 24 August 1936 | 1 | Justice Party[9] | |
| 7 | Ramakrishna Ranga Rao | 24 August 1936 | 1 April 1937 | 2 | Justice Party[9] | |
| 8 | Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu | 1 April 1937 | 14 July 1937 | 1 | Justice Party[10] | |
| 9 | C. Rajagopalachari | 14 July 1937 | 29 October 1939 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
| 10 | Tanguturi Prakasam | 30 April 1946 | 23 March 1947 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
| 11 | O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar | 23 March 1947 | 6 April 1949 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
| 12 | P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja | 6 April 1949 | 26 January 1950 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
[edit] Madras State
Madras State, precursor to the present day state of Tamil Nadu, was created after Indian independence on 26 January 1950.[11] It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The first legislature of the Madras State to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage was constituted on March 1, 1952, after the general elections held in January 1952.[12]
The state was subsequently split up along linguistic lines in 1953, carving out Andhra State. Under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, the States of Kerala, and Mysore were carved out of the Madras state. Under the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh and Madras Alteration of Boundaries Act, 1959, with effect from April 1, 1960, Tirutani taluk and Pallipattu sub-taluk of Chittoor district of Andra Pradesh were transferred to Madras State in exchange for territories from the Chingelput and Salem Districts.[3][13]
| #[7] | Name | Took office | Left office | Term[8] | Political party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja | 26 January 1950 | 9 April 1952 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
| 2 | C. Rajagopalachari | 10 April 1952 | 13 April 1954 | 2 | Indian National Congress | |
| 3 | K. Kamaraj | 13 April 1954 | 31 March 1957 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
| 4 | K. Kamaraj | 13 April 1957 | 1 March 1962 | 2 | Indian National Congress | |
| 5 | K. Kamaraj | 15 March 1962 | 2 October 1963 | 3 | Indian National Congress | |
| 6 | M. Bakthavatsalam | 2 October 1963 | 6 March 1967 | 1 | Indian National Congress | |
| 7 | C. N. Annadurai | 6 March 1967 | 14 January 1969 | 1 | DMK | |
[edit] Tamil Nadu
Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu (Tamil for Tamil country) on 14 January 1969.[11] The legislative assembly adopted a resolution on 14 May 1986, to abolish the legislative council. Thereafter, the legislative council was abolished through an act of Parliament named the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1986 with effect from 1 November 1986. The state legislature is presently unicameral with legislative assembly consisting of 235 members including one nominated member.[4]
The Chief Minister commands most of the executive powers while the Governor has a largely ceremonial role. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, like other Chief Ministers of India, is elected by legislators of the political party or the coalition which commands a simple majority in the legislative assembly. The tenure of the Chief Minister extends as long as he or she enjoys the confidence of the assembly. The incumbent shall vacate the office in the event of a successful motion of no confidence. Also, the President of India, acting under the recommendations of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Government of India, can dismiss an elected government using certain provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India. In 1976, Karunanidhi's government was dismissed and President's rule was imposed on the grounds of corruption.[14] If a vacancy is caused to the office of the Chief Minister due to death, demitting, or dismissal, the Governor can invite another person to form the government and request him or her to move a confidence-seeking motion in the Assembly. In the event of no one enjoying majority support, the Assembly is either dissolved or put in suspended animation and the state comes under President's rule or a caretaker government until fresh elections are held for the assembly.
[edit] Timeline
[edit] Records
- Ignoring an intervening President's rule from February 17, 1980 to June 9, 1980, the Chief Minister with the longest tenure (in successive terms) in office was M. G. Ramachandran, lasting 10 years, 5 months and 25 days from 30 June 1977 until his death on 24 December 1987.
- K. Kamaraj was the Chief Minister with the longest tenure without intervening Preseident's rules. His terms lasted from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963, i.e. 9 years, 5 months and 19 days.
- The shortest period was 24 days, a record held by Janaki Ramachandran, who held office from 7 January 1988 to 30 January 1988.
- The person to have been appointed Chief Minister the maximum number of times is M. Karunanidhi. He is the only Chief Minister with 5 terms in office (10 February 1969–4 January 1971, 15 March 1971–31 January 1976, 27 January 1989–30 January 1991, 13 May 1996–13 May 2001, 13 May 2006–present). He is the longest served Chief Minister as of 2006 (14 years). He is the current incumbent Chief Minister of the state.
[edit] Footnotes and References
- ^ Government of Tamil Nadu — Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu since 1920
- ^ Government of Tamil Nadu — Assemblies — An Overview
- ^ a b Government of Tamil Nadu — Tamil Nadu Secretariat — Brief History
- ^ a b Legislative bodies of India - Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
- ^ The Telegraph - Own Goal - Partition became inevitable once the Congress resigned in 1939
- ^ Pakistan - toward partition
- ^ a b c The colours indicate the political party affiliation of each Chief Minister.
- ^ a b c The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period
- ^ a b c d e f g World Statesmen.org — Provinces of British India
- ^ Justice party was in power except for a brief period. (apparently that of P. Subbarayan) The Congress fought the elections for the first time in the Madras Presidency in 1937. Therefore, this tenure should have been that of the Justice Party.
- ^ a b c d e World Statesmen.org — Indian states since 1947
- ^ Government of Tamil Nadu — The State Legislature — Origin and Evolution
- ^ Historical Importance of Kanchipuram
- ^ The Hindu - Delhi's warning
- ^ a b c On September 21, 2001, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled in a unanimous verdict that "a person who is convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such". Thereby, the bench decided that "in the appointment of Ms. Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister there has been a clear infringement of a Constitutional provision and that a writ of quo warranto must issue". In effect her appointment as Chief Minister was declared null and invalid with retrospective effect. Therefore, technically, she was not the Chief Minister in the period between May 14, 2001 and September 21, 2001 (The Hindu — SC unseats Jayalalithaa as CM, Full text of the judgment from official Supreme Court site).
- ^ BBC News - New leader for Tamil Nadu state
