Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress
AbbreviationTTNC
LeaderA. Nesamony
FounderSam Nathaniel
Founded1945
Dissolved1957
Colours  OrangeRed

The Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress (TTNC) was a political party in the Indian state of Travancore-Cochin. The party was founded by Sam Nathaniel and led by A. Nesamony, both natives of Palliyadi.[1]

History

The Kingdom of Travancore was a princely state of India. Its population included an ethnic Malayali majority and a Tamil minority; the later suffered linguistic discrimination in education,[1] and leaders of Tamil organisations expressed concern about disadvantage from lack of economic development.[2][3] The Tamil minority formed several political parties, one of them being Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress.[4]

The party's original platform was the formation of a separate Tamil state within Travancore.[5] The party contested the first Travancore constituent assembly election in 1948 and won 14 seats in the 120-seat legislature.[6]

In 1949, as part of the integration of India, Kingdom of Travancore merged with Kingdom of Cochin, another princely state, to form Travancore-Cochin.[7] Rajpramukh became the Governor. The Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress party won 9[8] or 10[9] seats in the first Travancore-Cochin assembly election. In the assembly, it supported the Indian National Congress to form a ruling coalition. It withdrew this support after 19 months because of differences with Congress over policy regarding Tamil-speaking parts of the state.[8] In the second assembly election in 1954, TTNC won 12 seats.[6] In the same year, TTNC called for the merger of Tamil-dominated taluks such as Thovalai, Agasteeswaram, Kalkulam, Vilavancode, Neyyatinkara, Shenkottai, Devikulam and Peerumedu with Madras state.[10] In August 1954, a street protest organised by the TTNC in support of these mergers took a violent turn. Police attempting to maintain control opened fire on protesters. Four people were killed and about a dozen sustained injuries.[11]

Following the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission, the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 restructured Indian regional jurisdictions. In this process, some Tamil regions (present day Kanyakumari district[a]) of Travancore-Cochin merged with Madras state (present day Tamil Nadu[b]) on 1 November 1956.[12][14] Other Tamil-majority areas remained in Travancore–Cochin, including Neyyatinkkara South, Nedumangad East, Devikulam and Peerumedu. Following this reorganisation, the Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress successfully fielded a candidate in the Travancore–Cochin state election; once in the Assembly, he lobbied for amalgamation of further Tamil areas into the Tamil Nadu state.[15]

After the merger of the regions, the leaders dissolved the party in 1957 and joined the ruling Congress party.[16]

Notes

  1. ^ Kanyakumari district consists of former Travancore taluks such as Agastheeswaram, Kallkkulam, Thovalai and Vilavancode[12]
  2. ^ Madras state renamed as Tamil Nadu on 14 January 1969[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Remembering Marshal Nesamony". The Hindu. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. ^ Kumari Thanthai, Marshall A. Nesamony; Dr.Peter, Dr. Ivy Peter; Peter. Liberation of the Oppressed a Continuous Struggle. History Kanyakumari District. p. 244. GGKEY:4WSDDCN93JK.
  3. ^ "Veteran Congress leader Dennis dead". The Hindu. 22 June 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Kanniyakumari History". History council of Kanniyakumari district. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  5. ^ Kumari Thanthai, Marshall A. Nesamony; Dr.Peter, Dr. Ivy Peter; Peter. Liberation of the Oppressed a Continuous Struggle. History Kanyakumari District. p. 135. GGKEY:4WSDDCN93JK.
  6. ^ a b "History of Kerala Legislature". Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  7. ^ John Jeya Paul; Keith E. Yandell (2000). Religion and Public Culture: Encounters and Identities in Modern South India. Psychology Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7007-1101-7.
  8. ^ a b Meera Srivastava (1980). Constitutional Crisis in the States in India. Concept Publishing Company. p. 50. GGKEY:0BS5QYU7XF2.
  9. ^ Chander, N. Jose (2004). Coalition Politics: The Indian Experience. Concept Publishing Company. p. 74. ISBN 9788180690921.
  10. ^ "Historically and demographically, Peermedu and Devikulam taluks belong to TN". The weekendleader. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  11. ^ Manisha (2010). Profiles of Indian Prime Ministers. Mittal Publications. p. 311. ISBN 978-81-7099-976-8.
  12. ^ a b "Nagercoil". Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  13. ^ "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly History". Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  14. ^ "Floral tributes on Kumari-TN merger day to Nesamony". The New Indian Express. 1 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014. November 1, the day of merger of Kanyakumari district with Tamil Nadu
  15. ^ Arunachalam, S (6 January 2012). "Historically and demographically, Peerumedu and Devikulam taluks belong to TNf". The Weekend Leader. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  16. ^ Kumari Thanthai, Marshall A. Nesamony; Dr.Peter, Dr. Ivy Peter; Peter. Liberation of the Oppressed a Continuous Struggle. History Kanyakumari District. p. 130. GGKEY:4WSDDCN93JK.
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