Rajagopalachari Image

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, fondly called Rajaji, was born on 10 December 1878 in Thorapalli village, Tamil Nadu. After studying law at Presidency College in Madras, he became a lawyer in Salem and later the chairperson of the Salem municipality in 1917. Rajaji founded the Tamil Scientific Terms Society to make science easier to understand by translating complex terms into simple Tamil.

A close friend of V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Rajaji joined Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement in 1919. He played a key role in the Vaikom Satyagraha against untouchability and led the Salt Satyagraha in Vedaranyam. In 1937, he became the first Premier of the Madras Presidency, introducing alcohol prohibition and opening temples to Dalits.

Though he opposed the Quit India Movement during World War II, he advocated for dialogue between Gandhi and Jinnah, proposing the famous C.R. Formula to resolve tensions between Hindus and Muslims. He later served as Governor of West Bengal and became India’s first Indian Governor-General in 1948. Rajaji also served as the Home Minister after the death of Sardar Patel. He later became the Chief Minister of Madras State. He advocated policies against China’s expansionist stance and opposed the linguistic division of states. In 1958, he left Congress to form the Swatantra Party, which became a strong opposition party.

Rajaji was a prolific writer in Tamil and English, authoring books such as Chakravarthi Thirumagan, a retelling of the Ramayana, for which he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958. For his immense contributions, he was honored with the Bharat Ratna in 1955.

Trivia : Rajaji’s wisdom and foresight earned him the title “The Wisest Man in India.”

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