The first legislative assembly election for the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including th ...

was held in February 1937, as part of the nationwide provincial elections in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

obtained a majority by winning 159 of 215 seats in the Legislative Assembly. This was the first electoral victory for the Congress in the presidency since elections were first conducted for Madras Legislative Council in 1920. The Justice Party which had ruled the presidency for most of the previous 17 years was voted out of power. The assembly was constituted in July 1937 and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) became the first Congress Chief Minister of Madras. The Congress also won the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

held simultaneously for the Legislative Council. The victory in Madras was the Congress' most impressive electoral performance in all the provinces of British India. The Congress Government that was formed after the elections lasted till October 1939, when it resigned protesting India's involvement in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The next election was held in 1946.

Government of India Act of 1935

The Government of India Act of 1935 abolished dyarchy and ensured provincial autonomy. It created a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gro ...

legislature in the Madras province. The legislature consisted of the governor and two legislative bodies – a legislative assembly and a legislative council. The assembly consisted of 215 members who were further classified into general seats and those reserved for special communities and interests:The State Legislature - Origin and Evolution:Brief History Before independence
The legislative council consisted of a minimum of 54 and a maximum of 56 members. It was a permanent body not subject to dissolution by the governor, and one-third of its members retired every three years. 46 of its members were elected directly by the electorate, while the governor could nominate 8 to 10 members. The breakdown of seats in the council was as follows: The Act provided for a limited adult franchise based on property qualifications. Seven million people, roughly 15% of the Madras people holding land or paying urban taxes were qualified to be the electorate. Separate ballot boxes were kept for candidates of different political parties. The Congress was allotted the yellow coloured box, while the Muslim League was allotted green coloured box.

Issues and campaign

The Justice Party had been in power in Madras for 17 years since 1920. Its hold on power was briefly interrupted only once in 1926-28 when

P. Subbarayan Paramasiva Subbarayan (11 September 1889 – 6 October 1962) was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and diplomat and was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, India's ambassador to Indonesia and Union Minister of Transport and Communic ...

was a non-affiliated chief minister.

Unpopularity of the Justice Government

The Justice Government under the Raja of Bobbili had been steadily losing ground since the early 1930s. It was beset with factional politics and its popularity was eroding slowly due to the autocratic rule of Bobbili Raja. The Raja was inaccessible to his own party members and tried to destroy the power and influence of the District level leaders who were instrumental in the party winning power earlier. The ''Suthanthira Sangu'', in its issue dated 26 February 1935 explained the destruction of the power of local bodies: The Justice party was seen as the collaborative party, agreeing with the British Government's harsh measures. Its economic policies during the Great Depression of the 1930s were also highly unpopular. Its refusal to decrease the land revenue taxation in non-Zamindari areas by 12.5% was hugely unpopular. The Bobbili Raja, himself a

Zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

, cracked down on the Congress protests demanding reduction of the revenue. This further reduced the popularity of the Justice Party. The Governor of Madras, Lord Erskine reported to the then Secretary of State Zetland in February 1937, that the peasants in South India had become fed up with the Justice Party and "every sin of omission or commission of the past fifteen years is put down to them ustice Party. The affluent lifestyle led by the Justice ministers at the height of the Great Depression were sharply criticized by the Madras Press. They drew a monthly salary of Rs. 4,333.60 when compared to Rs. 2,250 per month the ministers in the Central Provinces received. This invoked the ire of the Madras press. The newspaper ''India'' wrote: Even the European owned newspaper ''The Madras Mail'' which had been the champion of the earlier Justice Governments was sickened by the ineptitude and patronage policies of the Bobbili Raja administration. On 1 July 1935, it wrote in its editorial: "if the Justice Party is really determined upon reorganisation... the spoils system must go. The extent of the discontent against the Justice Government is reflected in an article of ''Zamin Ryot'':

Resurgence of the Congress

The

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the ''Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party'', was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922 of the National Congress, that sought greater self-government and ...

which had been the Justice party's main opposition merged with the

in 1935 when the Congress decided to participate in the electoral process. The Madras Province Congress party was led by S. Satyamurti and was greatly rejuvenated by its successful organisation of the

Salt Satyagraha The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

and Civil Disobedience movement of 1930–31. The Civil Disobedience movement, the Land Tax reduction agitations and Union organizations helped the Congress to mobilize popular opposition to the Bobbili Raja government. The revenue agitations brought the peasants into the Congress fold and the Gandhian hand spinning programme assured the support of weavers. Preferential treatment given to European traders brought the support of the indigenous industrialists and commercial interests. The Congress had effective campaigners like Satyamurti and Rajaji while the Justice party had only Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar to counter them. The Congress election manifesto was populist in nature and promised to reduce land revenue taxes, to ensure decent working conditions and wages for the laborers, low rents and all around prosperity. It even appealed to the Europeans who had reserved seats in the Assembly. It also appealed to the nationalist sentiment of the populace. Commenting on the Congress's manifesto, the ''Indian Annual Register'' said: The Congress campaign was effective and targeted all sections of the population like peasants, workers, weavers and businessmen. Against it the Justice party had no definite program or policies. It could only harp on the Brahmin domination in Congress. Amidst the backdrop of the Great Depression and economic distress their charge was not effective. Satyamurti utilised the services of popular actors like V. Nagayya and

K. B. Sundarambal Kodumudi Balambal Sundarambal (1908–1980) was an Indian actress and singer from Erode district, Tamil Nadu. She performed in Tamil cinema and was referred to as the "Queen of the Indian stage."

for the election campaign. In particular Sundarambal vigorously campaigned for the Congress. Satyamurti also produced a campaign film directed by A. Narayanan of Srinivasa Cinetone. It featured the speeches of Rajaji, Satyamurti and other Congress leaders. But the film was banned by the colonial government. The coloured box system enabled the most organised party - the Congress to have uniform slogans throughout the presidency. The slogan "vote for Gandhi and the yellow box", was very popular and helped the party to mobilise its supporters.

Other parties

The other parties contesting the election were the Madras Province Muslim League (MPML) headed by Jamal Mohammad, the People's Party of Madras started by Raja of

Pithapuram Pithapuram, historically known as Pittapore, is a town and a municipality in the Kakinada district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority. The town is home to one of the eighte ...

(a breakaway faction from the Justice Party) and the Muslim Progressive Party led by Nawab C. Abdul Hakim and S. M. Pasha.

Results

Party wise break up of seats in the Madras Legislative Assembly: Total Number of Seats : 215 Note : The Nattukottai Nagarathar Association and Southern India Chamber of Commerce were seats reserved for Indian Commerce (businessmen). Nagarathar Association seat was won by

Rajah Muthiah Chettiar Raja Sir Muttaiya Annamalai Muthiah Chettiar (5 August 1905 – 12 May 1984) was an Indian banker, politician, philanthropist, socialite and cultural activist who served as Mayor of Madras city (1933) and Minister of Excise and Education ...

(allied with Justice Party) and the Southern India Chamber of Commerce seat was won by

T. T. Krishnamachari Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari (1899–1974) was an Indian politician who served as Finance Minister from 1956 to 1958 and from 1964 to 1966. He was also a founding member of the first governing body of the National Council of Applied Econo ...

of Congress.

Analysis

Causes for defeat

The victory of Congress over the Justice Party has been ascribed to various reasons. N. Ram, editor-in-chief of '' The Hindu'' and Robert L. Hardgrave, professor emeritus in the Humanities, Government and Asian Studies at University of Texas, Austin attribute the defeat of the Justice party to its collaboration with the British Government. According to Hardgrave: Dr. David A. Washbrook, senior research fellow of History at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

and Andre Beteille say the elitist nature of the Justice Party members caused its defeat.

Marguerite Ross Barnett Overview Marguerite Ross Barnett (May 21, 1942 – February 26, 1992) was the eighth president of the University of Houston and a former chancellor of the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Barnett was the first African American woman to lead ...

attributes the Justice party's defeat to two causes - 1) The loss of Dalit and Muslim support and 2) Flight of the social radicals to the Self-Respect Movement. According to P. Rajaraman:

Notable losses

Many incumbent ministers of the Justice Government were defeated in this election. The chief minister Raja of Bobbili was defeated by V. V. Giri of Congress by a margin of over 6000 votes in the

Bobbili Assembly constituency Bobbili Assembly constituency is a constituency in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh that elects representatives to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in India. It is one of the seven assembly segments of the Vizianagaram Lok Sa ...

. Other prominent Justice losers included Kumararaja of Venkatagiri,

P. T. Rajan Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan (22 April 1892 – 25 September 1974) was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936 (143 Days). He was also the last President of the Justice Party. P. T. Rajan was born in a Thondai ...

, A. P. Patro and the

Raja of Ramnad ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being atte ...

Government formation

The elections were held and the results declared in February 1937. Rajaji was elected as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in March 1937. Despite being the majority party in the Assembly and the council, the Congress was hesitant to form a Government. Their objections stemmed from the special powers given to the Governor by the Government of India Act of 1935. According to the act, the Governor was given 1) special responsibilities in the area of Finance and (2) control and absolute discretionary powers over the cabinet in certain other issues. The Governor had the power to overrule the Cabinet. The Congress refused to accept power (in all the six provinces where they had won) with such caveats. The Governor of Madras, Lord Erskine, decided to form an interim provisional Government with non-members and opposition members of the Legislative Assembly.

V. S. Srinivasa Sastri Valangaiman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri (22 September 1869 – 17 April 1946) was an Indian politician, administrator, educator, orator and Indian independence activist. He was acclaimed for his oratory and command over the English langua ...

was first offered the Chief Ministership of the interim government but he refused to accept it. Eventually an interim Government was formed with Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu of the Justice Party as Chief Minister on 1 April 1937. Congress leaders like S. Satyamurti were apprehensive about the decision to not accept power. They carried out a campaign to convince Congress High Command (

Mohandas K. Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

) to accept power within the limitations set by the Government of India Act. They also appealed to the British Government to give assurances that the Governor's special powers will not be misused. On 22 June, Viceroy Linlithgow issued a statement expressing the British Government's desire to work with the Congress in implementing the 1935 Act. On 1 July, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) agreed to form Governments in the provinces they had won. On 14 July, Rajaji was sworn in as the Chief Minister. The first legislative assembly convened for the first time on 15 July and elected

Bulusu Sambamurti Bulusu Sambamurti (4 March 1886 – 2 February 1958) was an Indian lawyer, politician and freedom-fighter, who served as the President of the Madras Legislative Council from 1937 to 1942. He was thus the first speaker of Madras presidency assembl ...

and A. Rukmani Lakshmipathi as the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

and Deputy Speaker respectively.

Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu's Cabinet

Council of ministers in K. V. Reddy Naidu's interim provisional cabinet (1 April - 14 July 1937):

Rajagopalachari's Cabinet

Council of Ministers in Rajagopalachari's Cabinet (15 July 1937 – 29 October 1939): ;Changes *On 7 January 1939, Raman Menon died and

C. J. Varkey, Chunkath Chunkath Joseph Varkey (1891–1953), was an Indian professor, journalist and a former Minister for Education of the Madras Presidency. Biography Varkey was born in a Syro-Malabar Catholic family in 1891. He was a professor of History St. A ...

was inducted into the cabinet. Education portfolio was transferred from Subbarayan to Varkey and instead Subbarayan was given additional charge of Courts and Prisons.

Impact

The 1937 elections marked the start of the Indian National Congress' participation in the governance of India. In the Madras Presidency, it also marked the beginning of Rajaji's ascendancy in the Congress Legislature Party. Though it was Satyamurti who had led the election campaign, he gave up the leadership of the Legislature to Rajaji in accordance to the wishes of the national leaders of the Congress in Delhi. This election also marked the beginning of Congress dominance in the politics of Madras Presidency and later the

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...

. Except for an interlude during 1939–46, the Congress would go on to rule Madras uninterrupted till 1967. The Justice Party was demoralized by its defeat and the Raja of Bobbili temporarily retired from active politics. The party remained in political wilderness and eventually came under the control of

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

in 1938 and transformed into the

Dravidar Kazhagam Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, also called Thanthai Periyar. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a ...

in 1944.

References

{{Tamil Nadu assembly elections, state=expanded State Assembly elections in the Madras Presidency 1937 elections in India

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...