Pattom A. Thanu Pillai (15 July 188527 July 1970) was an Indian politician and independence activist who served as the 2nd

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 ...

of Kerala from 1960 to 1962. He also served as the Governor of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.He was considered a central figure in

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 ...

politics.

Early life

Born in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, A.Thanu Pillai was born into a

Nair The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...

family as the son of Varada Aiyer and Eswari Amma. While working as Deputy Chief in the State Agriculture department, he earned his law degree from Law College, Thiruvananthapuram and started his legal practice as an advocate. Under the influence of his mentor A. Narayana Pillai, he was attracted towards the newly formed

Travancore State Congress Travancore State Congress also known as the State Congress is a political party which was formed in 1938 to demand responsible governance in the princely state of Travancore. Background Following the formation of People's Ministries (responsible ...

and he abandoned full-time practice in favour of agitating for responsible government. Following the Narayana Pillai sedition trial, he took over the leadership of

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 ...

in Travancore.

Political career

Early politics

Pattom Thanu Pillai remained as one of the leaders of Indian National Congress during the period when Kingdom of Travancore became an Independent state and later merged with

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

to form Travancore-Cochin, and was one of the state's representatives in the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. In the Assembly, he spoke on matters relating to federalism.

Later politics

First Prime Minister of Travancore After the accession of Travancore state to the Indian Union,

P. G. N. Unnithan P. G. N. Unnithan (1898 – 5 April 1965) was the last diwan (prime minister) of independent Travancore. He succeeded C. P. Ramaswami Iyer on 20 August 1947 following the latter's resignation (subsequent to the attempt on Iyer's life at the ...

took over as the last

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

of independent Travancore on 20 August 1947 following the resignation of C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. Unnithan chaired the Travancore Constitutional Reforms Committee and relinquished office on 24 March 1948 when a people's government with Thanu Pillai as the first Prime Minister of the Independent Travancore took over.

The members of the First Travancore State Council

He resigned as Prime Minister of Travancore on 17 October 1948. He was succeeded by

Parur T. K. Narayana Pillai Paravoor Thazhathuveettil Krishnan Narayana Pillai (25 March 1890 – 23 June 1971) was an Indian freedom fighter during the British Raj in India and was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) which fought against the British rule ...

as the second and last Prime Minister of Travancore. After India's

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in 1947, Travancore and

were merged to form Travancore-Cochin on 1 July 1949. It was originally called United State of Travancore and Cochin with

as the capital. It was renamed State of Travancore-Cochin in January 1950 and was recognized as a state. During the merger E. Ikkanda Warrier was the prime minister of the state of Cochin. Warrier resigned as the last prime minister of the state of Cochin on 30 June 1949 helping the merger of the two states. Parur T. K. Narayana Pillai was unanimously elected the leader of the Congress Legislature Party and he assumed charge as the first chief minister of Travancore-Cochin from 1 July 1949.

Positions and work

First Ministry of the state of Travancore-Cochin headed by Parur T. K. Narayana Pillai resigned on 24 February 1951 following a corruption charge on the ministry. He was succeeded by C. Kesavan as the second Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin. The first assembly of the state of Travancore-Cochin was dissolved on 12 March 1952 following the resignation of C Kesavan. Following the elections to the Legislative Assembly, held on 27 March 1952, A. J. John became the third Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin. The second assembly of Travancore-Cochin lasted till 16 March 1954. By that time Thanu Pillai left Indian National Congress and joined

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded in 1952 when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the ...

(PSP). In the election for the third Legislative Assembly of Travancore-Cochin held in 1954, Praja Socialist Party won 19 seats (out of the contested 38) and formed a coalition government along with the

(INC) who had won 45 seats. Thanu Pillai became the fourth Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin with the support of INC on 16 March 1954. He resigned on 10 February 1955 and was succeeded by

Panampilly Govinda Menon Panampilly Govinda Menon (1 October 1906 – 23 May 1970) was an Indian politician, freedom fighter, and lawyer. He was born in a village near Kathikkudam and completed graduation from '' St.Thomas College, Thrissur''. He started his legal pra ...

as the last Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin. He remained in office till 23 March 1956. After that, the state remained under President's rule till 5 April 1957. During this time the State of

was formed under the

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 ...

. After the first ever elections to the

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 30 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 ...

in 1957, 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 ...

emerged as the single largest party.

E M S Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as E.M.S. Namboodiripad or simply by his initials E. M. S., was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of ...

formed the first elected government with the support of 5 independent legislators. The government was not able to complete its full 5-year term. The Communist-led government was dissolved as a consequence of the movement known as the ''

Vimochana Samaram The Liberation Struggle in Kerala (1958–59) was a period of anti-communist protest against the first elected state government in Kerala, led by E. M. S. Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India. Organised opposition to the government w ...

'' (Liberation Struggle). The Communist government was dismissed on 31 July 1959 and President's rule was imposed in the state under Article 356 of the constitution. Fresh elections were held in 1960 and Thanu Pillai became the second Chief Minister of Kerala, as head of a PSP-INC-Muslim League coalition administration. He assumed office on 22 February 1960. However, he resigned on 26 September 1962 to make way for

R. Sankar Raman Sankar (30 April 1909 – 7 November 1972) was an Indian politician, statesman, administrator, orator, educationist, writer and editor who served as the 3rd Chief Minister of Kerala from 1962 to 1964. Early life He was born to Raman ...

of the INC as the next Chief Minister of the state. He was appointed

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

on 1 October 1962 and later Governor 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 ...

on 4 May 1964 and remained in office till 11 April 1968.

Resignation and death

Two years after resigning as Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Pattom Thanu Pillai died on 27 July 1970, aged 85 at his home in Thiruvananthapuram. He was cremated with full state honours at the premises of his home.