The Justice Party, officially the South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. It was established on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by Dr C. Natesa Mudaliar and co-founded by T. M. Nair, P. Theagaraya Chetty and Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organisation to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian Movement.
Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936. He was also the last President of the Justice Party. P. T. Rajan was born in a Thondaimandala mudaliar family in Uthamapalayam. His ancestors were from Kanchipuram. He attended The Leys School, Cambridge and later, Jesus College, Oxford. He graduated in history and law, and practiced as an advocate for some time before joining the Justice Party.
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initially created as an advisory body in 1861, by the British colonial government. It was established by the Indian Councils Act 1861, enacted in the British parliament in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Its role and strength were later expanded by the second Council Act of 1892. Limited election was introduced in 1909. The Council became a unicameral legislative body in 1921 and eventually the upper chamber of a bicameral legislature in 1937. After India became independent in 1947, it continued to be the upper chamber of the legislature of Madras State, one of the successor states to the Madras Presidency. It was renamed as the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council when the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969. The Council was abolished by the M. G. Ramachandran administration on 1 November 1986. In 2010 the DMK regime headed by M. Karunanidhi tried to revive the Council. The former AIADMK regime (2016-2021) expressed its intention not to revive the council and passed a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in this regard.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly, formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly or Mysore Representative Assembly, is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the Vidhan Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad . There are 224 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and are directly elected by people through adult franchise. Karnataka is thus divided into 224 constituencies to elect members to the Assembly, each constituency electing one member. The assembly is elected using the simple plurality or "first past the post" electoral system. The elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India.
The Government of Tamil Nadu governs the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, like most other states in India.
P. Kakkan or fondly known as Kakkan, was an Indian politician and freedom fighter who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, Member of Parliament, President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and in various ministerial posts in Congress governments in the erstwhile Madras state between 1957 and 1967.
N. Gopala Menon was a lawyer and an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress, also Member of the Legislative Assembly of Madras state. He served as the Speaker of the Madras Legislative Assembly from 1955 to 1956.
Udupi Krishna Rau was a medical practitioner and politician of the Indian National Congress. He served as mayor of Madras city and as State minister.
The first legislative assembly Election to the Madras state based on universal adult suffrage was held in March 1952. This was the first election held in Madras state after the Indian Independence. This election was officially known as the 1951 Madras State Election, even though through delays, actual voting didn't take place until early 1952.
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of the Assembly is the Speaker. The term of the Assembly is five years, unless dissolved earlier.
Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami, often referred to by his initials E.P.S., is an Indian politician who is the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the current leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He served as the 7th chief minister of Tamil Nadu, from 2017 to 2021. He has been the General Secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam since 28 March 2023. Palaniswami served as the Joint Coordinator of the AIADMK from 2017 to 2022 and Interim General Secretary of the AIADMK from 2022 to 2023. He also served as the Headquarters Secretary of the AIADMK from 2016 to 2022.
Balasubramanian Parameswaran was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Maduranthakam constituency as an Indian National Congress candidate in 1946, 1952, and 1962 elections. He was the grandson of Rettamalai Srinivasan, a pioneer in the Scheduled Caste movement. He was educated at the St. Gabriels High School and Presidency College, Madras. He served as private secretary to another Scheduled Caste leader M. C. Rajah. During 7 April 1949 – 9 April 1952, he was the minister for Firka development, Khadi, Cottage industries, Fisheries, Cinchona and Harijan uplift in the P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja cabinet. During 1952–54, he was the mayor of Madras. From 13 April 1954 until 31 March 1957, he was the minister for Transport, Harijan Uplift, Hindu Religious Endowments, Registration and Prohibition in K. Kamaraj's first cabinet. During 1958–62, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha – the upper house of the Indian parliament.
The second legislative assembly election for the Madras Presidency after the establishment of a bicameral legislature by the Government of India Act of 1935 was held in 1946. The election was held after 6 years of Governor's rule starting from 1939, when the Indian National Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari resigned protesting Indian involvement in World War II. This was the last election held in the presidency - after Indian independence in 1947, the presidency became the Madras state. The election was held simultaneously with that of the Legislative Council. The Congress swept the polls by winning 163 out of 215 seats. The years after this election saw factionalism in Madras Congress party with divisions across regional and communal lines. Competition among T. Prakasam, C. Rajagopalachari and K. Kamaraj resulted in the election of Prakasam as the Chief Minister initially. But he was later defeated by Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar with Kamaraj's support. In turn, Reddiar himself was ousted to make way for P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja with the support of Kamaraj.
The first legislative assembly election for the Madras Presidency was held in February 1937, as part of the nationwide provincial elections in British India. The Indian National Congress obtained a majority by winning 159 of 215 seats in the Legislative Assembly. This was the first electoral victory for the Congress in the presidency since elections were first conducted for Madras Legislative Council in 1920. The Justice Party which had ruled the presidency for most of the previous 17 years was voted out of power. The assembly was constituted in July 1937 and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) became the first Congress Chief Minister of Madras.
The first legislative council election to Madras Presidency after the establishment of dyarchical system of government by the Government of India Act 1919, was held in November 1920. Indian National Congress boycotted the election due to its participation in the Non-cooperation movement. The election occurred during the early stages of non-Brahmin movement and the major issue of the election was anti-Brahminism. Justice party won the election with no significant opposition and A. Subbarayalu Reddiar became the first Chief Minister of the presidency.
The first legislative council election for the Madras Presidency after the establishment of a bicameral legislature by the Government of India Act of 1935 was held in February 1937. The Indian National Congress obtained a majority by winning 27 out of 46 seats in the Legislative Council for which the elections were held. This was the first electoral victory for the Congress in the presidency since elections were first conducted for the Council in 1920 and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) became the Chief Minister. The Justice Party which had ruled the presidency for most of the previous 17 years was voted out of power. Congress also won the Legislative assembly election held simultaneously.
The second legislative council election for the Madras Presidency after the establishment of a bicameral legislature by the Government of India Act of 1935 was held in March 1946. The election was held after 6 years of Governor's rule starting from 1939, when the Indian National Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari resigned protesting Indian involvement in World War II. This was the last direct election held for the Madras Legislative Council in the presidency - after Indian independence in 1947, the presidency became the Madras state and direct elections to the council were abolished. The election was held simultaneously with that of the Legislative Assembly. The Congress swept the polls by winning 32 out of 46 seats. The years after this election saw factionalism in Madras Congress party with divisions across regional and communal lines. Competition among T. Prakasam, C. Rajagopalachari and K. Kamaraj resulted in the election of Prakasam as the Chief Minister initially. But he was later defeated by Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar with Kamaraj's support. In turn, Reddiar himself was ousted to make way for P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja with the support of Kamaraj.
Local bodies in Tamil Nadu constitute the three tier administration set-up in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a system of local government which forms the last level from the Centre. Chennai Corporation in the then Madras Presidency, established in 1688, is the oldest such local body not only in India but also in any commonwealth nations outside United Kingdom.
The fourth legislative assembly of Madras state was constituted in March 1967 after the assembly election which was held in February 1967. The assembly was the first non-Indian National Congress government of the state and, under chief-minister C.N. Annadurai, passed several key acts including the renaming of the state to Tamil Nadu and the abolition of the three-language formula in the state which had previously required Hindi to be taught in schools.
