C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) – Vedaranyam Salt March, Premier of Madras, C.R. Formula, Governor-General & Swatantra Party | TNPSC Notes

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), popularly called Rajaji or C.R., was a lawyer from Salem who became one of Gandhi's closest colleagues. He led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha (1930), was the first Congress Premier of Madras Presidency (1937–39), framed the C.R. Formula (1944), became the first and only Indian Governor-General of India (1948–50), served as Chief Minister of Madras State (1952–54), founded the Swatantra Party (1959) and was among the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna (1954). Gandhi called him the "keeper of my conscience", and in Tamil he is honoured as Mootharignar (the elder scholar).

தமிழில் படிக்க

These notes are written for TNPSC Group 1, 2/2A and 4 aspirants and are meant to be complete on this topic. Rajaji is a core topic in the unit History, Culture, Heritage and Socio-Political Movements of Tamil Nadu (Vedaranyam march, temple entry, prohibition, the anti-Hindi agitation, Kula Kalvi Thittam) and in History, Culture of India and Indian National Movement (Non-Cooperation, the No-Changers, Salt Satyagraha, the C.R. Formula, Governor-General). His administrative and economic measures – debt relief, sales tax, the Swatantra Party's free-market ideas – link to Indian Economy and Development Administration in Tamil Nadu, and his political career to Indian Polity. His Tamil books (Chakravarti Thirumagan, Vyasar Virundhu) are asked in General Tamil. Read each section, then use the tables, the quick revision table and the key points at the end.

Rajaji at a Glance

Early Life, Education and Family

• Born: 10 December 1878 at Thorapalli, a village near Hosur, now in Krishnagiri district.
• Parents: Chakravarti Venkatarya Iyengar, the village munsiff of Thorapalli, and Singaramma.
• Schooling: early schooling at Hosur; then Central College, Bangalore.
• Law: he studied law at Presidency College, Madras, and began legal practice at Salem in 1900, where he became a leading lawyer.
• Marriage: in 1897 he married Alamelu Mangalamma (also written Mangamma); they had five children – three sons and two daughters. His wife died young.
• Link with Gandhi's family: his daughter Lakshmi married Devdas Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's youngest son, in 1933.

Salem Years: Municipality and Public Life (1900–1919)

• Congress: he attended the Calcutta session of the Congress (1906) as a delegate.
• Salem municipality: elected a member in 1911 and chairman in 1917; he served as chairman until 1919.
• Tamil Scientific Terms Society (1916): he founded this society to coin simple Tamil words for scientific terms – an early effort to teach science in Tamil.
• Social concerns: removal of untouchability, poverty and drink were his main concerns even before he joined Gandhi.

Joining Gandhi and the Non-Cooperation Years (1919–1929)

• 1919: he joined Gandhi in the agitation against the Rowlatt Act and soon gave up his lucrative law practice for the national movement.
• Non-Cooperation Movement: he took part in it and went to jail; his prison diary was later published in Tamil.
• 1921: elected to the Congress Working Committee and served as General Secretary of the Congress.
• Young India: he edited Gandhi's weekly Young India for a time while Gandhi was in prison.
• Gaya session (1922) – leader of the No-Changers: after the Non-Cooperation Movement was withdrawn, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru (the Pro-Changers or Swarajists) wanted to enter the legislative councils. Rajaji, with Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and M.A. Ansari, led the No-Changers, who wanted to continue Gandhi's constructive programme instead. The No-Changers won the vote at Gaya.
• Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25): he supported and took part in the struggle for the right of all castes to use the roads around the Vaikom temple.
• Gandhi Ashram, Puthupalayam: he set up a Gandhi Ashram at Puthupalayam near Tiruchengode (Namakkal district) in 1925 (some accounts give 1924), modelled on Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram. It worked for khadi (hand-spinning and weaving), the removal of untouchability and prohibition. From here he published Vimochanam, a Tamil magazine for the anti-liquor campaign.

Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha (1930)

When Gandhi began the Dandi March in March 1930, Rajaji, who had been elected President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, organised a parallel salt march in Tamil Nadu to the Vedaranyam coast (then in Thanjavur district, now Nagapattinam district).

Exam tip: the Tamil Nadu salt march went from Tiruchirappalli to Vedaranyam under Rajaji; Kamaraj was a participant at Vedaranyam, not its leader.

Premier of Madras Presidency (1937–1939)

Under the Government of India Act, 1935, provincial autonomy came into force, and the Congress won the 1937 elections in Madras Presidency. Rajaji became the first Congress Premier (then called "Prime Minister" of the province) on 14 July 1937. His ministry resigned in October 1939, along with the other Congress ministries, in protest against the Viceroy declaring India a party to the Second World War without consulting Indians.

The anti-Hindi agitation of 1937–40

• Rajaji first announced the Hindi plan in August 1937; the order of 21 April 1938 covered 125 secondary schools.
• Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, C.N. Annadurai, A.T. Panneerselvam, Moovalur Ramamirtham and others led the protests.
• Two protesters, L. Natarasan (died 15 January 1939) and Thalamuthu (died 11 March 1939), died after being imprisoned and became martyrs of the movement.
• After the Congress ministry resigned, the Governor, Lord Erskine, withdrew compulsory Hindi on 21 February 1940.
• Later in life Rajaji himself opposed making Hindi the sole official language and argued for keeping English.

The 1940s: Break with the Congress and the C.R. Formula

• 1942 – Madras resolution: Rajaji believed that the Congress should come to terms with the Muslim League to win independence. The Congress legislators of Madras, under his lead, passed a resolution accepting the League's claim for separation of Muslim-majority areas. The Congress leadership rejected it.
• Resignation: refusing to give up his view, he resigned from the Congress and from the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1942.
• Quit India: he did not support the Quit India Movement (August 1942), as he felt it would delay a settlement and urged dialogue with the British instead.

The C.R. Formula (Rajaji Formula), 1944

In 1944 Rajaji proposed a formula to break the Congress–League deadlock. Gandhi, released from prison in May 1944, placed it before Jinnah. Its main points:

• The Muslim League would endorse the demand for independence and cooperate with the Congress in forming a provisional interim government at the Centre.
• After the war, a commission would demarcate contiguous districts with a Muslim majority; a plebiscite of all adult inhabitants (not only Muslims) would decide whether to separate.
• If separation came, mutual agreements would safeguard defence, commerce and communications.
• The terms would apply only if Britain transferred full power to India.

Gandhi–Jinnah talks: held at Jinnah's house in Bombay from 9 to 27 September 1944. Jinnah rejected the formula: he wanted only Muslims to vote, a full Pakistan including whole provinces, and no common arrangement with India. The talks failed.

Interim Government, Governor and Governor-General (1946–1950)

Exam tip: Lord Mountbatten was the first Governor-General of independent India; Rajaji was the first Indian and the last Governor-General. After 26 January 1950 the head of State became the President (Dr Rajendra Prasad).

Chief Minister of Madras State (1952–1954)

• Appointment: the Congress did not have a majority of its own after the 1952 elections. Governor Sri Prakasa invited Rajaji, who was not an elected member, to form the government. He became Chief Minister on 10 April 1952 and was nominated to the Legislative Council instead of contesting a by-election.
• Majority: he won a confidence vote in the Assembly in July 1952 by gaining the support of members from other parties and independents.
• Modified Scheme of Elementary Education (1953): school hours for primary children were reduced to half a day, and in the other half children were to learn their parents' occupation. Critics led by the DMK and the Dravidar Kazhagam called it "Kula Kalvi Thittam" (hereditary education scheme), saying it would tie children to caste occupations.
• Resignation: opposition to the scheme and dissent within the Congress led him to resign on 13 April 1954. K. Kamaraj succeeded him and withdrew the scheme.

Swatantra Party and Later Politics (1955–1972)

• Against the "licence-permit raj": Rajaji opposed the Congress turn towards state-controlled socialism and Nehruvian planning in the later 1950s. He criticised the system of licences and permits as the "licence-permit raj".
• Swatantra Party: founded on 4 June 1959 at Madras, with Minoo Masani, N.G. Ranga and K.M. Munshi among its leaders. It stood for a market economy, individual freedom and limited government.
• 1967: the Swatantra Party won 44 Lok Sabha seats and became the largest opposition party in the Fourth Lok Sabha. In Madras State Rajaji helped build the DMK-led alliance that ended Congress rule in the State; C.N. Annadurai became Chief Minister.
• Peace mission (1962): as part of a Gandhi Peace Foundation delegation he went to the USA and met President John F. Kennedy to plead against nuclear weapons. His speeches and statements against atomic weapons are collected in Mankind Protests.
• End of the party: the Swatantra Party merged into the Bharatiya Lok Dal in 1974, after Rajaji's death.
• Death: Rajaji died in Madras on 25 December 1972, aged 94.

Rajaji's Positions – Timeline Table

Rajaji the Writer

Rajaji wrote in both Tamil and English. He believed that the epics and moral classics should be told in simple language for ordinary readers and children.

Titles of Rajaji

Honours and Memorials

• Bharat Ratna (1954): one of the first three recipients, with Dr S. Radhakrishnan and Dr C.V. Raman.
• Sahitya Akademi Award (1958) for Chakravarti Thirumagan.
• Birthplace memorial, Thorapalli: the house where he was born, near Hosur, is maintained by the Tamil Nadu Government as a memorial with his belongings and a photo gallery.
• Rajaji Memorial, Guindy (Chennai): memorial hall at Guindy.
• Rajaji Hall, Chennai: the hall in the Omandurar Government Estate, Chennai, is named after him.
• Rashtrapati Bhavan (2026): on 23 February 2026 President Droupadi Murmu unveiled a bust of Rajaji at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the "Rajaji Utsav"; it replaced the bust of the architect Edwin Lutyens.

Writing Mains Answers on Rajaji (Group 1 / Group 2)

Descriptive papers ask about Rajaji's role in the freedom struggle and in Tamil Nadu's administration. Build your answer around these points and support each with a fact from the notes above.

Rajaji's role in the freedom struggle (about 150–250 words)

• Introduction: Salem lawyer who joined Gandhi in 1919; called Gandhi's "keeper of my conscience".
• Non-Cooperation: gave up law practice; jailed; General Secretary of the Congress (1921); edited Young India.
• Constructive programme: led the No-Changers at Gaya (1922); Gandhi Ashram at Puthupalayam near Tiruchengode – khadi, anti-untouchability work, prohibition (Vimochanam).
• Salt Satyagraha: Tiruchirappalli to Vedaranyam, 13–28 April 1930, about 98 volunteers, about 240 km; arrested and jailed for six months.
• Province: first Congress Premier of Madras (1937–39); resigned over the war.
• Partition question: realistic approach – 1942 Madras resolution; C.R. Formula (1944) became the basis of Gandhi–Jinnah talks.
• Conclusion: first Indian Governor-General (1948–50) – symbol of transfer of power; Bharat Ratna 1954.

Social reforms of the Rajaji ministry, 1937–39 (about 150 words)

• Prohibition: first in Salem district (1937); sales tax (1939) to replace lost revenue.
• Temple entry: Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act, 1939; Meenakshi temple entry, 8 July 1939, led by A. Vaidyanatha Iyer.
• Rural relief: Agriculturists' Debt Relief Act, 1938.
• Criticism: compulsory Hindi (21 April 1938) – anti-Hindi agitation, deaths of Natarasan and Thalamuthu; withdrawn in 1940.
• Evaluation: the reforms on drink, debt and temple entry were pioneering, but the Hindi order and later the 1953 education scheme show the limits of his reading of Tamil public opinion.

The C.R. Formula – significance (about 100 words)

• First Congress-side proposal (1944) to accept, in principle, separation of Muslim-majority areas through a plebiscite.
• Basis of the Gandhi–Jinnah talks, Bombay, September 1944; rejected by Jinnah.
• Showed Rajaji's realism; the final Partition of 1947 followed similar lines of district-level Muslim-majority areas.

Practice: Match the Following

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• "First Governor-General of independent India" is Lord Mountbatten. Rajaji is the first Indian and the last Governor-General.
• Bharat Ratna year: 1954 (the first year of the award) – some websites wrongly give 1955.
• Kula Kalvi Thittam belongs to his second term (1953), not the 1937–39 ministry. The compulsory Hindi order belongs to the first term (1938).
• Successor in 1954: K. Kamaraj (not M. Bhaktavatsalam).
• Entry to the legislature in 1952: by nomination to the Legislative Council – he did not win a by-election.
• Swatantra Party: founded in 1959 (not 1956 or 1957); co-leaders Minoo Masani and N.G. Ranga.
• Vedaranyam vs Dandi: Dandi (Gujarat) – Gandhi; Vedaranyam (Tamil Nadu) – Rajaji.
• Chakravarti Thirumagan vs Vyasar Virundhu: the first is the Ramayana (award-winning); the second is the Mahabharata.

Quick Revision Table

TNPSC Key Points (PYQ-style facts)

• Born: 10 December 1878, Thorapalli (Krishnagiri district). Died: 25 December 1972, Madras.
• Parents: Chakravarti Venkatarya Iyengar and Singaramma. Wife: Alamelu Mangalamma.
• Gandhi called him the "keeper of my conscience". Tamil title: Mootharignar.
• Chairman, Salem municipality from 1917; founded the Tamil Scientific Terms Society (1916).
• Leader of the No-Changers (Gaya, 1922).
• Gandhi Ashram: Puthupalayam near Tiruchengode; magazine Vimochanam (prohibition).
• Vedaranyam Salt March: 13 April 1930 from Tiruchirappalli; reached 28 April; 98 volunteers; about 240 km.
• Song of the march: Namakkal V. Ramalingam Pillai – "Kathi indri ratham indri".
• First Congress Premier of Madras Presidency: 14 July 1937 – October 1939.
• Prohibition first in Salem district (1937); sales tax (1939); Debt Relief Act (1938).
• Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act (1939); Meenakshi temple entry 8 July 1939 (A. Vaidyanatha Iyer).
• Compulsory Hindi in 125 schools (1938) – first anti-Hindi agitation; withdrawn 21 February 1940.
• Left the Congress in 1942; did not support Quit India.
• C.R. Formula: 1944; Gandhi–Jinnah talks, Bombay, September 1944.
• First Governor of West Bengal (1947).
• Governor-General: 21 June 1948 – 26 January 1950 – only Indian and last.
• Union Home Minister after Patel (December 1950).
• CM of Madras State: 10 April 1952 – 13 April 1954; nominated MLC; Kula Kalvi Thittam (1953); succeeded by Kamaraj.
• Bharat Ratna 1954 – with S. Radhakrishnan and C.V. Raman.
• Swatantra Party: 4 June 1959, Madras; 44 Lok Sabha seats in 1967.
• Books: Chakravarti Thirumagan (Sahitya Akademi 1958), Vyasar Virundhu; English Mahabharata (1951), Ramayana (1957), Kural translation (1965).
• Song: Kurai Ondrum Illai – sung by M.S. Subbulakshmi.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Rajaji called the first and last Indian Governor-General?

C. Rajagopalachari succeeded Lord Mountbatten on 21 June 1948 and held the office until 26 January 1950, when India became a Republic and the post of Governor-General was abolished. He was therefore the only Indian ever to hold the post, and also the last Governor-General of India. He had earlier acted briefly as Governor-General in November 1947 while Mountbatten was away.

What was the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha?

It was the Tamil Nadu counterpart of Gandhi's Dandi March. Rajaji, then President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, led about 98 selected volunteers from Tiruchirappalli on 13 April 1930 (Tamil New Year day). They covered about 240 km (150 miles) through the Thanjavur delta and reached Vedaranyam on 28 April 1930. Rajaji broke the salt law there, was arrested and was sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment.

What was the C.R. Formula (1944)?

It was Rajaji's plan to end the Congress–Muslim League deadlock. The League would support the demand for independence and join a provisional interim government; after the war a commission would mark out contiguous Muslim-majority districts, where a plebiscite of all adult inhabitants would decide on separation; if separation came, both sides would agree on defence, commerce and communications; all of this only if Britain transferred full power. Gandhi placed it before Jinnah in the Gandhi–Jinnah talks at Bombay in September 1944, but Jinnah rejected it.

What were Rajaji's main measures as Premier of Madras (1937–39)?

He introduced prohibition, first in Salem district (1937), and a sales tax (1939) to make up the lost excise revenue; the Agriculturists' Debt Relief Act (1938); and the Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act (1939), after which A. Vaidyanatha Iyer led Dalits into the Madurai Meenakshi temple on 8 July 1939. His order making Hindi compulsory in 125 secondary schools (21 April 1938) led to the first anti-Hindi agitation and was withdrawn in February 1940.

Which book of Rajaji won the Sahitya Akademi Award?

Chakravarti Thirumagan, his Tamil prose retelling of the Ramayana, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil in 1958. His Tamil Mahabharata is Vyasar Virundhu. He also wrote English versions of the Mahabharata (1951) and the Ramayana (1957), an English translation of the Thirukkural (1965), and the devotional song Kurai Ondrum Illai, made famous by M. S. Subbulakshmi.

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