33 Facts About C Rajagopalachari

In 1930, C Rajagopalachari risked imprisonment when he led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha in response to the Dandi March.

In 1937, C Rajagopalachari was elected Prime minister of the Madras Presidency and served until 1940, when he resigned due to Britain's declaration of war on Germany.

In 1946, C 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 as Chief Minister of Madras state from 1952 to 1954.

Mangamma died in 1916 whereupon C Rajagopalachari took sole responsibility for the care of his children.

When Gandhi organised the Dandi march in 1930, C Rajagopalachari broke the salt laws at Vedaranyam, near Nagapattinam, along with Indian independence activist Sardar Vedaratnam.

At the age of 59, C Rajagopalachari won the Madras University seat and entered the Assembly as the first Premier of the Madras Presidency from the Congress party.

In 1938, when Dalit members of the Madras Legislative Council proposed a Temple Entry Bill, Congress Chief Minister C Rajagopalachari asked them to withdraw it.

In March 1938, C Rajagopalachari introduced the Agricultural Debt Relief Act, to ease the burden of debt on the province's peasant population.

Ramasamy opposed the decision of C Rajagopalachari to make learning Hindi compulsory in schools in 1937.

Some months after the outbreak of the Second World War, C Rajagopalachari resigned as premier along with other members of his cabinet in protest at the declaration of war by the Viceroy of India.

However, subsequently, C Rajagopalachari differed in opposition to the British war effort.

However, C Rajagopalachari did not contest the elections, and Prakasam was elected.

From 1946 to 1947, C Rajagopalachari served as the Minister for Industry, Supply, Education, and Finance in the Interim Government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

At that time, C Rajagopalachari was appointed as the first Governor of West Bengal.

From 10 until 24 November 1947, C Rajagopalachari served as Acting Governor-General of India in the absence of the Governor-General Lord Mountbatten, who was on leave in England to attend the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Mountbatten's nephew Prince Philip.

At Nehru's invitation, in 1950, C Rajagopalachari joined the Union Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio where he served as a buffer between Nehru and Home Minister Sardar Patel and on occasion offered to mediate between the two.

Tired of being persistently over-ruled by Nehru concerning critical decisions, C Rajagopalachari submitted his resignation on the "grounds of ill-health" and returned to Madras.

The resolution was approved by the party and Kamaraj revealed that C Rajagopalachari had been reluctant to accept the responsibility as Chief Minister and the leader of the Madras Legislature Congress party as his health was fragile and added that by acceding to the request of the party, C Rajagopalachari had put country before self.

On 3 July 1952, C Rajagopalachari was then able to prove that he had a majority in the assembly by luring MLAs from opposition parties and independents to join the Indian National Congress.

Ramasami Padayachi, 5 members of the Madras State Muslim League and 6 members of Commonweal Party provided their support to C Rajagopalachari to prevent the Communists from gaining power.

On 7 June 1952, C Rajagopalachari ended the procurement policy and food rationing in the state, abolishing all price and quota controls.

The rising unpopularity of his government forced C Rajagopalachari to resign on 26 March 1954, as the President of the Madras Congress Legislature Party thereby precipitating new elections.

In 1961, C Rajagopalachari criticized Operation Vijay, the Indian military action in which Portuguese rule in Goa was forcibly ended and the territory was incorporated into India, writing that India had "totally lost the moral power to raise her voice against militarism" and had undermined the power and prestige of the United Nations Security Council.

On 28 January 1956, C Rajagopalachari signed a resolution along with Annadurai and Periyar endorsing the continuation of English as the official language.

At the age of 88, C Rajagopalachari worked to forge a united opposition to the Indian National Congress through a tripartite alliance between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Swatantra Party and the Forward Bloc.

Mr C Rajagopalachari was one of the makers of new India, a sincere patriot, a man whose penetrating intellect and moral sense added depth to national affairs.

An accomplished writer both in his mother tongue Tamil as well as English, C Rajagopalachari was the founder of the Salem Literary Society and regularly participated in its meetings.

Apart from his literary works, C Rajagopalachari composed a devotional song Kurai Onrum Illai devoted to Lord Venkateswara, a song set to music and a regular at Carnatic concerts.

On 1 May 1955, C Rajagopalachari appealed to the Government of India to cancel receipt of aid from America if the country continued with its nuclear tests.

Namboodiripad, a prominent Communist Party leader, once remarked that C Rajagopalachari was the Congress leader he respected the most despite the fact he was someone with whom he had the most differences.

The best possible tribute to C Rajagopalachari was from Mahatma Gandhi who referred to him as the "keeper of my conscience".

On 21 August 1978, a portrait of C Rajagopalachari is put in the Central Hall of Parliament House.

The President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, K Kamaraj, and a majority of the provincial leaders opposed him in the 1940s, Rajagopalachari clung on to a position of influence in regional politics through support from his colleagues at the center.