HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1952 Madras State Legislative Assembly election was held on 27 March 1952 to elect all 375 members of the Legislative Assembly of
Madras State Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...
(present-day
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
). They were the first elections held in the state following Indian independence. Although voting was held in 1952, the
Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...
officially designated it as taking place in 1951. No party won an outright majority in the election, though the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
(INC) emerged as the largest party with 152 seats and more than a third of the vote. The
Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...
(CPI) came in second with 62 seats, followed by the
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (''Farmer Worker People's Party''), or Praja Party for short, was a political party of India. Established in 1951, it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party in the following year. The A ...
(KMPP) with 35 seats.
C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...
of the INC was elected
chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
as a consensus candidate. This was the only election for Madras State where it still encompassed the
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
-speaking areas of what is present-day
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, as it split off to form
Andhra State Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...
in 1953. The separation consolidated the non-Brahmin INC faction led by
K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...
. Opposition to his
education policy Education policy consists of the principles and policy decisions that influence the field of education, as well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education governance may be shared between the local ...
led to Rajagopalachari's resignation in 1954 and Kamaraj was elected chief minister in his stead.


Background


Factionalism in Congress

In the years after the 1946 election, factionalism was common place in the Congress party in Madras. During 1946–51, three different Congress chief ministers headed the Madras government. T. Prakasam was the Chief Minister of Madras presidency immediately after the 1946 election. As a Telugu speaker, he was often at odds with the Madras Provincial Congress Committee president
K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...
. Kamaraj forced the resignation of Prakasam within a year. In 1947,
Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar Omandur Periyavalavu Ramasamy Reddiyar (1 February 1895–25 August 1970) was an Indian freedom-fighter and politician of the Indian National Congress. He served as the Premier of Madras Presidency from 23 March 1947 to 6 April 1949. Early li ...
, Kamaraj's nominee, became the Chief Minister. When Reddiar showed signs of independence, Kamaraj engineered his removal by a vote of no confidence in Congress Legislature Party on 31 March 1949. P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja, the next Chief Minister who formed the Government on 6 April 1949 was believed to be a stooge of Kamaraj. He retained the chiefministership till the 1952 election when he lost his seat in Srivilliputhur constituency. The main factions within the Madras Congress Party during this period were: 1) the Andhra (Prakasam) faction, 2) the Rajaji faction 3) Kamaraj faction (Tamil non-Brahmin members) and 4)the
Bezawada Gopala Reddy Bezawada Gopala Reddy (5 August 1907 – 9 March 1997) was an Indian freedom fighter, writer and politician. He was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Indian state, Andhra State from 1955 to 1956 and later served as the Governor of Uttar Prade ...
and
Kala Venkata Rao Kala Venkata Rao was an Indian independence activist and politician. He served as the Minister for Revenue in the governments of the Madras Presidency and Andhra Pradesh. He also served as the Minister of Finance in the latter. A member of t ...
faction supported by the All India Congress Committee president Pattabhi Sitaramayya The Prakasam faction later split from the Congress to form the
Hyderabad State Praja Party Hyderabad State Praja Party, a political party in the Hyderabad State. HSPP was formed in 1951 when Tanguturi Prakasam and Acharya N. G. Ranga broke away from the Indian National Congress. In April 1951 Ranga broke away and formed the Krishi ...
. The party merged with the
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (''Farmer Worker People's Party''), or Praja Party for short, was a political party of India. Established in 1951, it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party in the following year. The A ...
in June 1951.


Communists in electoral process

In 1951, the
Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...
(CPI) which had been waging an armed struggle during 1948–51, gave up the attempt to wrest power through force and joined the political mainstream. At the 1951 congress of the party, "People's Democracy" was replaced by "National Democracy" as the main slogan of the party and the decision was made to contest the elections. One of the armed movements supported by the CPI was the
Telangana Rebellion The Telangana Rebellion of 1946–1951 was a communist-led insurrection of peasants against the princely state of Hyderabad in the region of Telangana that escalated out of agitations in 1944–1946. Hyderabad was a feudal monarchy where mo ...
in the princely state of
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. Though the rebellion was crushed by 1951, the communists retained widespread support in the neighboring
Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...
region. This was due to their policy of linguistic nationalism (the demand for a separate state of
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
speaking people) and their support base amongst the Kamma caste which was opposed to the
Reddy Reddy (also Hunterian transliteration, transliterated as Reddi or Raddi; also known as Reddiar or Reddappa) is a Telugu people, Telugu Hindu Caste system in India, caste predominantly found in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in Sou ...
supported Congress. Till then, all the previous elections had been conducted on a limited franchise based on property ownership qualifications. The election of 1951 was the first one to be based on a universal franchise. The Communists had the support of most of the first time voters – landless peasants and agricultural labourers. They also had a strong presence in the agrarian district of
Tanjore Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore,#Pletcher, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian c ...
in Tamil Nadu where they were supported by the Dravidar Kazhagam.


Split in the Dravidian Movement

The
Dravidar Kazhagam Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by E. V. Ramasamy, 'Periyar' E. V. Ramasamy. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste and class system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dra ...
(DK), the main opposition party to the Congress in the Tamil speaking areas of the state split in 1949.
C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 19093 February 1969), also known as Perarignar, was an Indian politician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He served as the fourth and last chi ...
, once a protege of the DK leader Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, quit the DK and founded a new party –
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
(DMK). Both the DK and the DMK were secessionist advocates for Dravidistan- a separate state for Dravidians. Some of the old guard of the Justice party, which had been renamed as Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944, refused to accept Periyar's leadership. Led by P. T. Rajan, they insisted they were still the real Justice party and contested the 1952 elections under the "Scales" symbol.


Constituencies

According to the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Madras) Order, 1951, made by the President under sections 6 and 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Madras Legislative Assembly consisted of 375 seats to be filled by election, distributed in 309 constituencies and 62 two-member constituencies in each of which a seat had been reserved for Scheduled Castes and four two-member constituencies in each of which a seat had been reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Three seats were uncontested. The elections were conducted for the remaining 372 seats. The two member constituencies were established in accordance to Article 332 of the
Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...
. The voting method and the plurality electoral formula were defined in The Representation of People Act, 1950. Out of the total 309 constituencies in the undivided
Madras State Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...
, 66 were two member constituencies, 62 of which had one seat reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and 4 for Scheduled Tribe candidates.The State Legislature – Origin and Evolution
These constituencies were larger in size and had greater number of voters (more than 1,00,000) when compared to general constituencies. Two separate list of candidates, a general list and a reserved list, contested in those constituencies. Each voter had to cast two votes – one for each list. The two winners were chosen as follows: * Reserved Member – Candidate with the most votes among the reserved (SC/ST) list candidates * General Member – Candidate with the most votes among the rest of the candidates excluding the Reserved Member (including both reserved and general lists). This system led to anomalies. In some cases like the Coimbatore – II constituency in the 1957 election, both elected members belonged to the reserved list – the candidate with second highest number of votes in reserved list secured more votes than the highest vote getter in the general list. Multiple members were elected only in the 1952 and 1957 elections as double member representation was abolished in 1961 by the enactment of Two-Member Constituencies Abolition Act (1961).


Political parties

The main opponents for the Congress in Madras were the CPI, Prakasam's
Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (''Farmer Worker People's Party''), or Praja Party for short, was a political party of India. Established in 1951, it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party in the following year. The A ...
(KMPP) and the
Krishikar Lok Party Krishikar Lok Party (Peasants People's Party) was a political party in the Hyderabad State, India, which existed from April to June 1951. The KLP was formed when Acharya N. G. Ranga separated from the Hyderabad State Praja Party. KLP contested ...
led by N. G. Ranga (a breakaway group from KMPP's predecessor - the Hyderabad State Praja Party). The
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
(DMK) did not contest the 1952 election. Instead it supported the candidates of the
Vanniyar The Vanniyar, formerly known as the Palli, are a community or '' jāti'' found in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Vanniyars were historically considered a lower caste, although some were peasant-warriors in the 14th ...
caste based parties – the Commonweal Party and the
Tamil Nadu Toilers Party Tamil Nadu Toilers Party was created by members of the populous Vanniyar community of Tamil Nadu, India, during the 1950s. In 1951, Vanniyars convened a conference of the Vanniyar Kula Kshatriya Sanga which intended to organise Vanniyars on a sta ...
– and five independents in Chengelpet, Salem, North and South
Arcot Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, betwe ...
districts. The candidates they backed had to sign a pledge to support DMK's agenda in the legislative assembly. The Dravidar Kazhagam also did not participate directly in the election. However, it supported the Communists in an effort to defeat the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
which it claimed was a Brahmin dominated party. It also supported a number of other parties and Independents in the election. The Justice party, led by P. T. Rajan contested in nine seats.


Election

Polling was held on 27 March 1952. In all, 2,507 persons filed their nominations-2,472 men and 35 women. Of these, the nominations were rejected in respect of 79 candidates-78 men and one woman. Seven hundred and fifty-one candidates withdrew their nominations in time-741 men and 10 women.


Results

!colspan=9, , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9; text-align:center;" ! class="unsortable" , ! Political party !! Flag !! Seats
Contested !! Won !! % of
Seats !! Votes !! Vote % ! class="unsortable", Govt.
Formation , - style="background: #90EE90;" , , , 367 , , 152 , , 40.53 , , 69,88,701 , , 34.88 , rowspan="2" style="background-color:#90EE90;text-align:center", Leading Party , - , , , 163 , , 13 , , 3.47 , , 12,99,282 , , 6.48 , - , , , 148 , , 35 , , 9.33 , , 18,03,377 , , 9.00 , rowspan="2" style="background-color:#00FF00;text-align:center", **Full support , - , , , 131 , , 62 , , 16.53 , , 26,40,337 , , 13.18 , - style="background: #00FF7F;" , # , , 63 , , 15 , , 4.00 , , 6,29,893 , , 3.14 , rowspan="4" style="background-color:#00FA9A;text-align:center", *Outside support,
joined the cabinet
in 1954 , - , , , 37 , , 2 , , 0.53 , , 3,39,680 , , 1.70 , - style="background: #00FA9A;" , * , , 34 , , 19 , , 5.07 , , 8,52,330 , , 4.25 , - style="background: #00FF00;" , ** , , 13 , , 6 , , 1.60 , , 2,18,288 , , 1.09 , - style="background: #00FF00;" , ** , , 13 , , 5 , , 1.33 , , 1,86,546 , , 0.93 , rowspan="4" style="background-color:#00FF7F;text-align:center", #3 KLP legislators
and
15 Independents
joined Congress , - , , , 9 , , 1 , , 0.27 , , 82,231 , , 0.41 , - , , , 6 , , 3 , , 0.80 , , 1,38,203 , , 0.69 , - style="background: #00FF7F;" , # , , 667 , , 62 , , 16.53 , , 47,58,768 , , 23.75 , - class="unsortable" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan = 3, Total seats ! 375 !! style="text-align:center;" , Voters !! 3,66,00,615 !! style="text-align:center;" , Turnout ! colspan = 2, 2,00,38,423 (54.75%)


Government formation


Election of C. Rajagopalachari

The composite Madras State then included parts of
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
,
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
with a total of 375 assembly members. The
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
was reduced to a minority with 152 members in an assembly of 375. It won 4 seats from the 29 in Malabar, 43 of the 143 in the Andhra areas, 96 of the 190 Tamil constituencies and 9 of the 11 seats from
Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
speaking areas. Kumaraswami Raja, the incumbent Chief Minister lost the election along with five members of his cabinet (
Bezawada Gopala Reddy Bezawada Gopala Reddy (5 August 1907 – 9 March 1997) was an Indian freedom fighter, writer and politician. He was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile Indian state, Andhra State from 1955 to 1956 and later served as the Governor of Uttar Prade ...
,
Kala Venkata Rao Kala Venkata Rao was an Indian independence activist and politician. He served as the Minister for Revenue in the governments of the Madras Presidency and Andhra Pradesh. He also served as the Minister of Finance in the latter. A member of t ...
, K. Chandramouli, K. Madhava Menon and
M. Bhaktavatsalam Minjur Bhakthavatsalam (9 October 1897 – 13 February 1987) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the chief minister of Madras State from 2 October 1963 to 6 March 1967. He was the last Congress chief minister of T ...
). A large number of CPI members were elected from Andhra region of Madras state which had for some years demanded a separate state for Telugu speaking areas. In February 1952, the non-congress members convened under T. Prakasam, leader of the KMPP, at Madras to form the United Democratic Front (UDF) and issued a "Common Minimum Program". They claimed to control 166 seats (CPI and CPI backed independents – 70, KMPP – 36, Tamil Nadu Toilers Party – 19, Commonweal party – 6, FBL (MG) – 3, SCF – 1, JUSP −1 and Independents – 30). Prakasam wrote to the Governor
Sri Prakasa Sri Prakasa (3 August 1890 – 23 June 1971) was an Indian politician, freedom-fighter and administrator. He served as India's first High Commissioner to Pakistan from 1947 to 1949, Governor of Assam from 1949 to 1950, Governor of Madras from ...
staking his claim to form the Government as the leader of the single largest formation. The Congress did not want the Communists taking power or to impose Governor's rule in the state. It brought Rajaji out of retirement to form the Government as a consensus candidate. Kamaraj, President of the Madras Provincial Congress Committee was of the opinion that the UDF should be allowed to form the Government as he had predicted the weak coalition might eventually fall apart. However other leaders such as
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 Econom ...
and
Ramnath Goenka Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He bought the majority stake of ''The Indian Express'' in 1930s. He created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.'' ...
wanted Rajaji to be nominated to form the Government. Rajaji was invited by Sri Prakasa to form the Government on 1 April 1952 and was sworn in on 10 April 1952. He refused to run for a by-election and the Governor nominated him for the assembly's upper house (Legislative Council). It was considered to be a "constitutional impropriety" as the nomination of a member to the Council could be done only at the recommendation of the cabinet. But in this case, the Governor acted unilaterally when no cabinet had been formed yet. On 6 May, the incumbent
Speaker of the assembly Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...
, J. Shivashanmugam Pillai of the Congress was reelected as the Speaker defeating independent MLA Swayamprakasam by 206 votes to 162. On 3 July, Rajaji was able to win a vote of confidence with the support of 200 members with 151 opposing (and 1 neutral). This was the first time such a "confidence motion" was moved in any legislature in India. He was able to secure the majority by engineering a series of defections from the UDF and with the help of other parties: * The support of the 6 members of Commonweal Party, (one of the two parties representing the cause of Vanniars) was obtained by giving a cabinet position to its leader – M. A. Manickavelu Naicker. 19 members of the other Vanniyar party –
Tamil Nadu Toilers Party Tamil Nadu Toilers Party was created by members of the populous Vanniyar community of Tamil Nadu, India, during the 1950s. In 1951, Vanniyars convened a conference of the Vanniyar Kula Kshatriya Sanga which intended to organise Vanniyars on a sta ...
led by S. S. Ramasami Padayachi also supported the vote of confidence but did not join the cabinet. (They later joined the Kamaraj cabinet in 1954). * Many independents joined Congress and became Congress Legislators. The strength of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) which was 152 on 1 April 1952, increased to 165 by 3 May and to 167 by 30 September. * Rajaji split the
Krishikar Lok Party Krishikar Lok Party (Peasants People's Party) was a political party in the Hyderabad State, India, which existed from April to June 1951. The KLP was formed when Acharya N. G. Ranga separated from the Hyderabad State Praja Party. KLP contested ...
and KLP legislators P. Thimma Reddy, Neeladri Rao Reddy and Kumisetti Venkatanarayana Dora joined the Congress. * The 5 members of the Madras State Muslim League provided their support to congress to prevent the communists from gaining power.


Election of K. Kamaraj

Andhra State was formed from the Telugu-speaking regions of Madras State after a widespread agitation in 1953. The Madras assembly was reduced from 375 to 230, 140 members going to Andhra and 5 to Mysore with the Congress Party controlling 118 seats; an outright majority. This strengthened the positions of non-Brahmin Congress forces under the leadership of K. Kamaraj. He ousted Rajaji on 31 March 1954 and was elected the leader of Congress Legislative Party. Kamaraj consolidated his position by offering ministerial position to leaders of Tamil Nadu Toilers Party and Commonweal Party. This event marked the end of Brahmin domination in Tamil Nadu Congress.


Impact

Kamaraj resigned his presidency of the Provincial Congress Committee owning responsibility for the election loss and was soon replaced by P. Subbarayan. Rajaji's nomination to the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
was challenged in the
Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...
by P. Ramamurthi, the CPI MLA from Madurai North Constituency. Chief Justice Rajamannar and Justice Venkatarama Ayyar, who heard the public interest writ petition declined to intervene by opining that "the court could not decide political rights or enforce public interest or constitutional conventions". This precedent set by Governor Prakasa became the first among a long list of constitutional improprieties committed by governors to help the party in power in the central government. The
Sarkaria Commission Sarkaria Commission was set up in June 1983 by the central government of India. Its charter was to examine the relationship and balance of power between state and central governments in the country and suggest changes within the framework of Co ...
established in 1983 to examine the balance of power between state and central governments remarked on the precedent that the "Governor's task is to see that a government is formed and not to try to form a government which will pursue the policies he approves".


Cabinet


Rajagopalachari's Cabinet

;Changes * Ministers belonging to Bellary and Andhra constituencies (Naganna Gowda, Sankara Reddi, Pattabirama Rao, Sanjeevayya and Ranga Reddi) stepped down on 30 September 1953, a day before
Andhra State Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...
split to form a separate state. The portfolios of Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, Cinchona, Rural Welfare, Community Projects and National Extension Schemes were handed over to
M. Bhaktavatsalam Minjur Bhakthavatsalam (9 October 1897 – 13 February 1987) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the chief minister of Madras State from 2 October 1963 to 6 March 1967. He was the last Congress chief minister of T ...
on 9 October 1953.
Jothi Venkatachalam Jothi Venkatachalam (born 27 October 1917, date of death unknown) was an Indian politician who served as Governor of Kerala and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. Life and career Jothi Venkatachalam was born in Maymyo, hill city ...
was made minister for Prohibition and Women's Welfare. K. Rajaram Naidu became the Minister for Local Administration. C. Subramaniam was given the additional portfolios of education, information and publicity. V. C. Palaniswamy Gounder was put in charge of Veterinary, Animal Husbandry and Harijan welfare.


Kamaraj's Cabinet

Members of cabinet who served between 13 April 1954 – 13 April 1957 under the Chief Ministership of Kamraj are ; Changes * Following the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, A. B. Shetty quit the Ministry on 1 March 1956 and his portfolio was shared between other ministers in the cabinet.


List of elected members


Tamil Nadu

Election results from constituencies which would later become part of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
,
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
,
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and Mysore state are listed here.


Andhra


Mysore State


Kerala


Delimitation and Reorganisation

On 1 October 1953, a separate
Andhra State Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...
consisting of the Telugu-speaking areas of the composite Madras State was formed and the Kannada-speaking area of
Bellary Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India. Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...
District was merged with the then Mysore State. This reduced the strength of the Legislative Assembly to 231. On 1 November 1956,
Madras State Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...
was re-organized as per
States Reorganisation Act, 1956 The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...
.
Malabar District Malabar District, also known as British Malabar or simply Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in ...
of the State was transferred to the new State of
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
, and a new union territory, Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands, was carved out. The southern part (Tamil-speaking area) of Travancore-Cochin (present day Kanyakumari district) and Shenkottah taluk were merged into the State. Later in 1968, the state was renamed as
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. This led to re-organization of legislative assembly constituencies during 1957 assembly elections in the State. The strength of the Madras Legislative Assembly was increased to 205 in accordance with the new Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order 1956, made by the Delimitation Commission of India under the provisions of the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. The 1957 elections were conducted for these 205 seats.


See also

* Elections in Tamil Nadu * Elections in Andhra Pradesh * Elections in Kerala *
Legislature of Tamil Nadu The Tamil Nadu Legislature is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Legislature is composed of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and List of governors of Tamil N ...
*
Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...


Notes


Footnotes and References


External links


Election Commission of India

1951/52 Madras State Election Results, Election Commission of India
{{Tamil Nadu assembly elections, state=expanded State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
March 1952 in Asia 1950s in Madras State