"King Maker" Kamarajar

"King Maker" Kamarajar

Kamaraj's father died when he was six years old and his mother was forced to support her family by selling her jewellery. In 1914, Kamaraj dropped out of school to support his family. After that he worked in his uncle's clothshop as a salesboy. 
In 1920, at the age of 18 he became active political worker and joined Congress as full-time worker. In 1921, Kamaraj was organising public meetings at Virudhunagar for congress leaders. He was eager to meet Gandhi and when Gandhi visited Madhurai on September 21, 1921, Kamaraj attended Gandhi's public meeting and met him for the first time in person.Kamaraj lead almost all the agitation and demonstration against the British rule. Kamaraj was first jailed in June 1930 for two years in Alipore Jail, Calcutta for participation in "Salt Satyagraha" led by Rajagopalachari at Vedaranyam and was released earlier in 1931 in consequence of Gandhi-Irwin Pact before he could serve full term imprisonment. Kamaraj was imprisoned six times by British and spent nine years in jail for his Pro-Independence activities.
 
On 13 April 1954, K. Kamaraj became the Chief Minister of Madras Province. To everyone's surprise, Kamaraj nominated C. Subramaniam and M. Bhakthavatsalam, who had contested his leadership, to the newly formed cabinet. Never did Kamaraj aspire for any post in the party or in the administration. For him the posts were like a towel over the shoulder . Without any hesitation he chose to quit posts for the benefit of future generation .Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for three consecutive terms, winning elections in 1957 and 1962.
 
After Nehru's death in 1964, Kamaraj successfully navigated the party through the turbulent times. As the president of the Indian National Congress, he refused to become the next prime minister himself and was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi in 1966. For this role, he is widely acclaimed as the "King Maker" during the 1960s.