Diarchy was established in

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

based on the recommendations of the Montague-Chelmsford report. Five elections were held during the period diarchy was in effect and Justice Party occupied power most of the time. It ended with the election in 1937 when the

Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act passed by the British Parliament that originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest act that the British Parliament ever enact ...

came into effect.

Government of India Act of 1919

Government of India Act of 1919 enlarged the provincial legislative councils and increased the strength of elected members to be greater than that of nominated and official members. It introduced a system of

dyarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally spelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate. is a form of government charact ...

in the provinces. Although this act brought about representative Government in India, the governor was empowered with overriding powers. It classified the subjects as belonging to either the centre or the provinces. The

governor general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

could override any law passed by the provincial councils. It brought about the concept of "Partial Responsible Government" in the provinces. Provincial subjects were divided into two categories – reserved and transferred. Education, sanitation, local self-government, agriculture and industries were listed as the transferred subjects. Law, finance, revenue and home affairs were the reserved subjects. The provincial council could decide the budget in so far it related to the transferred subjects. Executive machinery dealing with those subjects was placed under the direct control of provincial legislature. However, the provincial legislature and the ministers did not have any control over the reserved subjects, which came under the governor and his executive council.

Council

The council had a total of 127 members in addition to the '' ex – officio'' members of the Governor's Executive Council. Out of the 127, 98 were elected from 61 constituencies of the presidency. The constituencies comprised three arbitrary divisions – 1)communal constituencies such as non-Muhammadan urban, non-Muhammadan rural, non-Brahman urban, Mohamaddan urban, Mohamaddan rural, Indian Christian, European and Anglo-Indian 2)special constituencies such as landholders, Universities, planters and trade associations (South India Chamber of Commerce & Nattukottai Nagarathar Association) and 3) territorial constituencies. 25 of the non-Mohammadan Rural and 3 of the non-Mohammadan Urban constituencies were reserved for non-

Brahmans Brahmin (; ) is a '' varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). The traditional occ ...

. 29 members were nominated, out of whom a maximum of 19 would be government officials, 5 would represent the

Paraiyar Paraiyar, Parayar or Maraiyar (formerly anglicised as Pariah and Paree) is a caste group found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and in Sri Lanka. Etymology Robert Caldwell, a nineteenth-century missionary and grammarian who w ...

Pallar The Pallar, who prefer to be called Mallar, are an agricultural community from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The Pallars traditionally inhabited the fertile wetland area referred to as ''Marutham'' in the literary ...

Valluvar Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar, was a Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exc ...

, Mala,

Madiga Madiga is a Telugu caste from southern India. They mainly live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, with a small minority in Tamil Nadu. Madigas are historically associated with the work of tannery, leatherwork and smal ...

Sakkiliar Arunthathiyar is a scheduled caste community mostly found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The term has two distinct usages: for the purposes of the state government's positive discrimination program, in 2009 it was designated an umbrella ...

, Thottiyar, Cheruman and

Holeya Holeya are a scheduled caste of India, mainly belonging to present day Karnataka State,

Elections

1920 election

The first legislative council election was held in November 1920.

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 ...

boycotted the election due to its participation in the

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

. The election occurred during the early stages of non-Brahmin movement (later

Self-Respect Movement The Self-Respect Movement is a popular human rights movement originating in South India aimed at achieving social equality for those oppressed by the Indian caste system, advocating for lower castes to develop self-respect. It was founded in ...

) and the only major issue of the election was anti-

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

ism. Justice party won the election with no significant opposition and A. Subbarayalu Reddiar became the first Chief Minister of the presidency.

1923 election

The second legislative council election was held in 1923. Voter turnout was higher than the previous election. Swarajists, a breakaway group from

participated in the election. The ruling Justice Party had suffered a split, when a splinter group calling themselves anti-Ministerialists left the party. It won the highest number of seats but fell short of a majority. Nevertheless, Madras Governor Willington invited it to form the government. Incumbent Justice chief minister

Panagal Raja Raja Sir Panaganti Ramarayaningar KCIE (9 July 1866 – 16 December 1928), also known as the Raja of Panagal, was a ''zamindar'' of Kalahasti, a Justice Party leader and the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 11 July 1921 to 3 Dece ...

was nominated by party leader

Theagaraya Chetty Dewan Bahadur Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty (27 April 1852 – 28 April 1925) was an Indian lawyer, industrialist, and prominent political leader from the erstwhile Madras province. He was one of the founders of the Justice Party in 1916, along ...

to continue as chief minister for a second term. The government survived a no-confidence motion (with the support of non-elected members), brought against it on the very first day of its tenure by the opposition headed by C. R. Reddy.

1926 election

The third legislative council election was held in November 1926. Justice party lost the election to

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. Chauri Chaura The Swaraj Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by Indi ...

. However, as the Swaraja Party refused to form the Government, the

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized ...

set up an independent government under the leadership of

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

and with the support of nominated members.

1930 election

The fourth legislative council election was held in September 1930. Justice party won the election and P. Munuswamy Naidu became the first Chief Minister. The main opposition party –

did not contest the elections due to its participation in the

Civil Disobedience Movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

1934 election

The fifth legislative council election was held in 1934. The ruling Justice party lost the election and the opposition

emerged as the single largest party. However it refused to form the government due to its opposition to dyarchy. The incumbent chief minister,

Raja of Bobbili Raja Sri Ravu Svetachalapati Sir Ramakrishna Ranga Rao KCIE (20 February 1901 – 10 March 1978) was an Indian politician and ''zamindar'' who served as the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 5 November 1932 to 4 April 1936 and 24 ...

retained power and formed a minority government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diarchy in Madras Presidency Political history of the Madras Presidency Diarchies