Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), informally called Rajaji or C.R.,
was an Indian lawyer, independence
activist, politician, writer and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India. He also
served as leader of the Indian
National Congress, Premier of the
Madras Presidency, Governor of
West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of Madras state.
Rajagopalachari founded the Swatantra
Party and was one of the first
recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. He vehemently opposed
the use of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament.
During his lifetime, he also acquired the nickname 'Mango of Salem'.
Rajagopalachari was born
in the village of Thorapalli in the Salem district of the Madras Presidency (now the Krishnagiri district of Tamil
Nadu) and educated at Central
College, Bangalore, and Presidency
College, Madras. In 1900 he started a legal practice that in time became
prosperous. On entering politics, he became a member and later President of the Salem municipality. He joined the Indian
National Congress and participated in the agitations against the Rowlatt Act,
joining the Non-Cooperation
movement, the Vaikom Satyagraha,
and the Civil Disobedience
movement. In 1930, Rajagopalachari risked imprisonment when he led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha in response to the Dandi March. In 1937, Rajagopalachari
was elected Premier of the Madras Presidency and served until 1940, when he
resigned due to Britain's declaration of war on Germany. He later advocated
co-operation over Britain's war effort and opposed the Quit India Movement. He favoured talks
with both Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League and proposed what later came to be
known as the C. R. Formula.
In 1946, Rajagopalachari was appointed Minister of Industry, Supply, Education
and Finance in the Interim
Government of India, and then as the Governor
of West Bengal from 1947 to 1948, Governor-General of India from 1948 to 1950, Union Home Minister from 1951 to 1952 and asChief Minister
of Madras state from 1952 to
1954. In 1959, he resigned from the Indian National Congress and founded the
Swatantra Party, which stood against the Congress in the 1962, 1967 and 1972
elections. Rajagopalachari was instrumental in setting up a united
Anti-Congress front in Madras state under C.
N. Annadurai, which swept the 1967 elections.
Rajagopalachari was an
accomplished writer who made lasting contributions to Indian English literature and is also credited with composition
of the songKurai Onrum Illai set
to Carnatic music. He pioneered temperance and temple
entry movements in India and
advocated Dalit upliftment. He has been criticised for
introducing the compulsory study of Hindi and the controversial Madras Scheme of Elementary Education in Madras
State. Critics have often attributed his pre-eminence in politics to his
standing as a favourite of both Mahatma
Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Rajagopalachari was
described by Gandhi as the "keeper of my conscience".
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