Kharge vs Tharoor: A look at nine previous Congress chiefs from south India

The Indian National Congress has not had a president from south India for more than a quarter of a century now. This is despite the fact that the southern states are the only major remaining strongholds of the party.
K Kamaraj, PV Narasimha Rao and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
K Kamaraj, PV Narasimha Rao and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

With the nominations for the next president of the Indian National Congress (INC) having closed on Friday, September 30, three contenders for the post have emerged, putting an end to numerous speculations. While Thiruvananthapuram MP and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor is the only one to have remained in the race since the speculations stage, joining him is senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge, a surprise candidacy that prompted Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh to opt out of the race. There is also the unexpected candidacy of former West Bengal Governor KN Tripathy. While Kharge is a clear favourite, with the blessings of senior leaders like AK Antony and Ashok Gehlot, Tharoor too is confident of garnering votes at the election, which is scheduled to be held on October 17. Tripathy is not expected to pose a challenge to either of the two other contenders, making the Congress presidential race essentially a contest between two south Indian leaders.

It may be noted that the Congress party has not had a president from south India for more than a quarter of a century now. This is despite the fact that the southern states are the only major remaining strongholds of the party. The reception that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has received in Kerala and Tamil Nadu so far is testimony to this fact.

The Congress has had nine presidents from south India so far, five of whom served post Independence. As the party gears up to likely elect its 10th south Indian president in its 135 years of existence, TNM looks at some of the former Congress presidents from the southern states and their major contributions.

The first Congress president from south India was Panapakkam Anandacharlu, a lawyer and freedom fighter from the erstwhile Madras Presidency, who was elected to the post in 1890. After him came the Malayali advocate C Sankaran Nair in 1897. Nair is the only Malayali Congress president till date, an honour that Tharoor will share if successful on October 17.

C Vijayaraghavachariar, raised to Congress presidency in 1920, was again an advocate from the Madras Presidency. He was closely associated with AO Hume, and had written to the latter prior to the formation of the Congress, that such an organisation “should be political in outlook and at the same time should look into the economic and social needs of the masses.” Vijayaraghavachariar is credited for the drafting of the INC Constitution.

Elected to Congress presidency in 1926, S Srinivasa Iyengar was the last Congress president from south India in the pre-Independence era. An advocate and freedom fighter from the Madras Presidency, Iyengar’s entry into politics was prompted by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

In Congress’s first post-Independence presidential elections in 1948, it was B Pattabhi Sitaramayya from Andhra Pradesh who emerged the victor. A freedom fighter and a doctor, Pattabhi was also the first Congress president from south India who was not a lawyer. He was part of the Congress’s three member JVP committee, along with Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which “advised against the creation of linguistic states for the time being”, but added that “where the demand for a linguistic state was insistent and overwhelming and where other language groups involved were agreeable to it, a new state could be created”. The JVP report was followed by states' reorganisation across India. Pattabhi also penned The History of the Congress in 1935, earning himself the title of ‘historian of the Indian National Congress.’

The next Congress president from south India was Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh. A freedom fighter who was imprisoned during the Quit India Movement, his illustrious political career saw him serve as the Lok Sabha Speaker and Union Minister. He switched affiliation in 1977, when he became a member of the Janata Party and went on to become the President of India in the same year.

K Kamaraj was one of the most noteworthy leaders from south India to have served in this role. Having been the Chief Minister of the Madras state for three consecutive terms, he voluntarily left office in 1963 under what came to be known as the Kamaraj Plan, which called for the voluntary resignations of high-level national and state officials to devote their efforts to rebuilding the Congress party at the grassroots level. Subsequently, he was elected to Congress presidency in 1964. 

A freedom fighter who came from a humble background and rose through the ranks of the party, Kamaraj was instrumental in steering the Congress party after Nehru’s death. Acclaimed as Congress’s kingmaker in the 1960s, Kamaraj was responsible for quashing the prime ministerial dreams of both Morarji Desai and Jagjivan Ram, and promoting Lal Bahadur Shastri as Nehru’s successor. It was Kamaraj who installed Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister after Shastri’s death in 1966. He never became the Prime Minister himself due to language limitations. He is said to have famously told the media, “No Hindi, no English, how can I be PM?”

S Nijalingappa from Karnataka was made Congress president in 1968. An advocate, a member of India’s constituent assembly and two-time Chief Minister of Karnataka, Nijalingappa took over the reins of the Congress during troubled times. Tensions over relations between the ministerial and organisation wings of the party were rife at the time. As the last president of the undivided INC, Nijalingappa oversaw its split into the Congress (Right) under Indira Gandhi and the Congress (Organisation) under leaders like Nijalingappa himself, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Kamaraj and Morarji Desai. 

The last Congress president from south India, who also simultaneously served as the Prime Minister of India, was PV Narasimha Rao, an advocate by training, who hailed from present-day Telangana. Narasimha Rao’s presidency cannot be seen separately from his role as the executive head of the Indian Union. He oversaw a major economic transformation in the country through its liberalisation in 1991. He was also able to put the nation ahead of political considerations by appointing Manmohan Singh, who lacked any experience in politics, as the Finance Minister during a trying time. Later political analysis looks back at this period as one where Rao had “matured into a modern Chanakya to keep intra-party dissonance within limits”. Rao’s failure to prevent the Babri Masjid demolition, however, remains a blot on his political career.   

Watch: How BJP's Raja Singh gets away with hate speech and other cases 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com