S. S. Ramasami Padayatchiyar (16 September 1918 – 3 April 1992) was a politician from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was the founder of the Tamil political 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 ...

, which is considered to be a predecessor of

Pattali Makkal Katchi The Pattali Makkal Katchi (; PMK) is a caste-based political party in Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 to provide political representation for the Vanniyar caste, a community found throughout Northern Tamil Nadu. It is a ...

Early life

Padayatchiyar was born in a Vanniyar family at the South Arcot district of Madras Presidency on 16 September 1918. He studied till high school and did not pursue any further education. He entered politics and founded the Tamil Nadu Toilers Party in 1951.

Tamil Nadu Toilers Party

Tamil Nadu Toilers Party was created by Padayatchiyar and members 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 during the 1950s. In 1951, Vanniyars convened a major conference of the Vanniyar Kula Kshatriya Sangam. M. A. Manickavelu Naicker, a lawyer and S. S. Ramasami Padayatchi, 33-year-old high school graduate, chairman of the Cuddalore Municipal school and member of the South Arcot district board were participants of the conference among others. The conference which intended to organise Vanniyars on a statewide basis failed due to traditional local loyalties.

South Arcot South Arcot District was a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. It covered the area of the present-day districts of Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Viluppuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The district was divided into eight talu ...

and

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

Vanniyars under Padayatchiyars's leadership formed Tamil Nadu Toilers party whereas Vanniyars from

North Arcot North Arcot was a former district in Madras Presidency, acquired by the annexation of the Arcot State in 1855 when its Nawab died without issue. It had Chittoor as its headquarters (currently in Andhra pradesh). On 1 April 1911, the Chittoor d ...

and

Chengalpattu Chengalpattu, previously known as Chingleput or Chengalpet, is a town and the headquarters of Chengalpattu district of the state Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located near to the industrial and IT hub. It is the headquarters of the district a ...

under Naicker formed

Commonweal Party Commonweal Party was an Indian political party that existed in Tamil Nadu between 1951 and 1954. It was started by M. A. Manickavelu Naicker and claimed to represent the interests of the Vanniyar caste. It merged with Indian National Congress in ...

. The partnership of Tamil Nadu toilers party and Commonweal party ensured success in 25 M.L.A. constituencies and 4 members of parliament, after which a problem in Madras legislative assembly on 1954 came to a solution to take referendum in assembly for

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 ...

to prove its majority to form government, where Kamaraj of INC was supported by S.S. Ramaswamy Padayatchiyar and Manickavelu Naicker to become Chief Minister of Madras presidency.

In the Madras Legislative Assembly

Padayatchiyar was unsure over the choice of alliances. However, initially, he was highly skeptical of the

and criticized the Commonweal Party for establishing an alliance with the Congress. But he significantly modified his stance when

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 ...

resigned as the Chief Minister of Madras state. He proposed negotiations with Rajaji's successor

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 ...

and eventually, merged his party with the Congress accepting an appointment as Minister of Local Self-Government. During the 1962 elections, Padayatchiyar quit the Congress and revived the Tamil Nadu Toilers Party. He concluded an alliance with the

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly so ...

and contested the elections as an ally of the Swarajya Party. However, Tamil Nadu Toilers Party performed poorly in the 1962 elections and Padayatchiyar himself lost his seat. During the 1967 elections, Padayatchiyar approached 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 ...

offering his support. But the DMK rebuffed him saying that there were enough candidates from the Vanniyar community in the DMK and the support of the Tamil Nadu Toilers Party would not be needed. The DMK performed well in the elections and captured power in the state.

As Member of Parliament

After a brief lull, Padayatchiyar returned to politics in 1980. He returned to the Indian National Congress and contested in the Lok Sabha elections from Tindivanam and was elected to the lower house of Indian Parliament. Padayatchiyar was re-elected in 1984 and served from 1980 to 1989.

Philanthropy

He donated several acres of his land for public railways, government hospitals, and the bus terminal in Cuddalore.

Memorial for Padayatchiyar

In memory of Padayatchiyar a portrait was unveiled in Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly. To honour Padayatchiyar and his Social Justice Service, on 29 June 2018

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...

Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced in the Assembly that Padayatchiyar birth anniversary on September 16 would be officially celebrated as

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Function. And also announced that a

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

for Padayatchiyar would be built at Cuddalore. Edappadi K Palaniswami on 14 Sep 2018 laid the foundation for the Memorial at

Manjakuppam Manjakuppam is one of the three large divisions in the town of Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is a heavy industries hub and a port city, and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated ...

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is a heavy industries hub and a port city, and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important city and port during the Britis ...

, through video conferencing at the secretariat. The memorial was opened on 25 November 2019 by Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami in 1.5-acre land in the heart of the Cuddalore city with a life-size bronze statue of the late leader, also with a library at an cost of 2.15 crore.

Family

Ramasami Padayatchiyar married Papa Ammal and had two sons and one daughter, Vimal.

Death

Ramasami Padayatchiyar died on 3 April 1992 at

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramasami, Padayatchiyar. S. S 1918 births 1992 deaths Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu ministers India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 People from Viluppuram district Madras MLAs 1952–1957