P T Rajan

Early life

Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan was born in 1892 in Theni. He was educated at Ley's School, Cambridge and graduated in history from Jesus College, Oxford University in 1915. He later studied law at the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar in 1917 and practised as an advocate before joining the Justice Party in the early 1920s.

Political career

Rajan stood as a Justice Party candidate in the 1920 elections and was elected as a member of the Madras Legislative Council. He was also instrumental in getting W. P. A. Soundrapandian Nadar nominated to the Madras Legislative Council as a Justice Party nominee.

In government

In 1930, when the Justice Party returned to power after a gap of 4 years, Rajan was appointed Minister of Public Works. He served as a minister in the governments of P. Munuswamy Naidu and the Raja of Bobbili. On April 4, 1936, he succeeded the Raja of Bobbili was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency and held the post till August 24, 1936, when the Raja of Bobbili once again became the chief minister. He was knighted on 1 February 1937.

In 1939, he joined Periyar and wholeheartedly supported his demand for secession from India. However, he broke off with a few others in 1944 when Periyar renamed the Justice Party as Dravidar Kazhagam and converted the political party into a non-political social organization.

As President of Justice Party

Rajan along with a few dissidents floated a new Justice Party and claimed that their organisation was the original Justice Party. B. Ramachandra Reddi, who was President of the Madras Legislative Council between 1930 and 1937 was tentatively elected Party President but resigned in 1945 and was succeeded by Rajan. The Justice Party did not contest in the 1946 Assembly elections but participated in the 1951 elections, the first as a part of independent India. The Justice Party contested nine seats as an unrecognised state-level party of which the party won one. Rajan stood from Madurai North as well as Cumbum. While Rajan lost badly from Madurai North winning only 11% of the total votes polled and finished third, he won by a margin of 11,359 votes from Cumbum. The Justice Party did not contest in the 1957 Assembly elections and was eventually dissolved.

Rajan contested as an independent from Uthamapalayam in the 1957 Assembly elections and polled 24,256 votes losing to K. Pandiaraj of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 6,303 votes. Rajan did not contest any more elections after the defeat.

Political activism and ideology

P. T. Rajan, as a leading non-Brahmin leader, supported the appointment of non-Brahmin trustess to temples in Tamil Nadu. In the early 1950s, through his efforts, the present panchaloha idol of Lord Iyappan was installed at Sabarimalai and a procession was taken all over Madras state. A road in K. K. Nagar, Chennai has been named in his memory as "Sir P.T. Rajan Road".

Family

P. T. Rajan's uncle M. T. Subramania Mudaliar of Uthamapalayam was a member of the Dravidian Association and one of the early leaders of the Non-Brahmin Movement. He was always consulted with regard to the choice of Ministers by early Chief Ministers such as the Raja of Panagal.

P. T. Rajan's son Palanivel Rajan was a politician of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He served as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2001 and In 2006, he served as the Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments in the Government of M. Karunanidhi briefly before his death on May 20, 2006. Rajan's grandson Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (son of Palanivel Rajan) currently serves as the Member representing Madurai Central Constituency in the 15th Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu.

Criticism

Rajan's lavish spendings as Minister for Development under the Munuswamy Naidu regime at the height of the Great Depression along with those of others, invited the wrath of the media.

The newspaper India reported in the March 25, 1932 edition:

When the country is on fire, when the axe of retrenchment has fallen on the poor and when the people are experiencing intense suffering under the heavy burden of taxation, the Madras ministers have started on their tours immediately after passing of the Budget. The tour of Honourable Mr. P. T. Rajan causes us heart-burning. We have to feel sorry that the Ministers have been reduced to such a deplorable state. Mr. Rajan is going to Hindupur today which is at a distance of 400 miles from Madras for laying the foundation stone for a Taluk Board School. For this trivial affair, the Minister is squandering the money of the poor tax payer