P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja

P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
Chief Minister of Madras Presidency and Madras State
In office 6 April 1949 – 10 January 1950
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Governor	Krishna Kumarasingh Bhavasingh
Preceded by	O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar
Succeeded by	C. Rajagopalachari
Governor of Orissa
In office 1954–1956
Preceded by	Saiyid Fazl Ali
Succeeded by	Bhim Sen Sachar
Personal details
Born	1898 Rajapalayam, Madras Presidency
Died	1957
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Religion	Hindu

Poosapati Sanjeevi Kumarswamy Raja (1898–1957) was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (Madras Presidency), India from 6 April 1949 to 10 April 1952.^[1] He was born in Rajapalayam in Tamil Nadu.

Early life

He was born in Rajapalayam to Poosapati Sanjeevi Raja. His mother died when he was eight days old. He lost his father when he was three years old. Raja had no brothers and sisters and he was brought up by his grand mother.^[2]

After schooling, Raja was connected with the Congress organisation at its every level. He took a prominent part in Panchayat Organisations, Local Board administration He was President of Rajapalayam Union, Panchayat court,District Board of Ramnathapuram, District educational Council etc.

Political and social work

The lives and writings of Annie Besant and Satyamurthy had great influence on his mind and character in his formative years. It was in 1919 that he met Mahatma Gandhi for the first time and started following with great interest the events in Gandhi's life. Gandhi's epic struggle in South Africa, the founding of the Ashram in Ahmedabad and the Champaran struggle made a profound impression on him and the utter simplicity of Mahatma's life also evoked his unbounded admiration.

1932 He was arrested for disobeying the unjust laws. Thus Rajapalayam gained a distinct place in political map, the credit went to Raja's lead. In 1934, Raja won central legislature for constituency comprising Tirunelveli, Madurai & Ramanathapuram. In 1936 he was M.L.A in C. Rajagopalachari ministry.

He was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (Madras Presidency) from 1949 to 1950 and Governor of Orissa from 1954 to 1956.

In all the years of his life, most of Raja's wealth was spent in helping the poor and in serving public causes, particularly for the Congress movement. He was much interested in co-operative movement also. He founded Bhupathi Raju Cop-operative Credit Bank. an urban bank for the benefit of local people especially farmers named after his friend, Sri Bhupathi Raju of Andhra Pradesh, who accompanied him in prison during freedom movement. He constructed one monument *CONGRESS PONVIZHA GROUNDS" in Rajapalayam commomerating Jalian wala bagh incident during the freedom struggle.

Raja's life was one of noble activity, dedication and selfless service for the people of the country. He was a staunch proponent of the concept of "Separation of the Judiciary from the Executive". Prohibition, promotion of Khādī and Temple entry legislation were his other notable achievements. He donated his house for starting an institution of culture called "Gandhi Kalai Mandram". Rajapalayam became a great industrial centre mainly due to his drive and interest.

One theory is that the influential Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency was P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja studied in Srivilliputtur and thus he chose his temple as the symbol of Tamil Nadu emblem. And his successor Rajagopalachari might not have minded that the shrine of Andal was now the Madras government's symbol.

Commemoration

Raja has been commemorated on an Indian Postal Service stamp.^[3] The newly constructed Bus Stand with more space is named after him as P.S.KUMARASAMY RAJA BUS STAND and the newly developed area where the district offices situated including Collectorate at Virudhunagar is named as KUMARASAMY RAJA NAGAR.

See also

• Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu

References