{"id":89761,"date":"2026-02-25T12:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=89761"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:26:20","slug":"c-rajagopalachari-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/c-rajagopalachari-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"C. Rajagopalachari Legacy: Temple Entry Reformer and Hindi Policy Critic Honoured at Rashtrapati Bhavan"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>C. Rajagopalachari Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">President Droupadi Murmu unveiled a statue of <\/span><b>C. Rajagopalachari<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Rajaji) in the central courtyard of Rashtrapati Bhavan, replacing the bust of British architect <\/span><b>Edwin Lutyens<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The decision, announced by PM Modi, highlighted Rajaji\u2019s legacy of public service, self-restraint, and independent thinking.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The move symbolically honours Rajaji\u2019s enduring political and moral influence, recognising him not merely as a statesman but as a leader who viewed power as a responsibility rather than a privilege.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>C. Rajagopalachari\u2019s Early Role in the Freedom Movement<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), born in December 1878 in Thorapalli, Tamil Nadu, grew up in a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Entry into National Politics<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Rajaji attended the 1906 Calcutta and 1907 Surat sessions of the Indian National Congress, marking his early engagement with the national movement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Rise in Local Leadership<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; In 1911, he was elected to the Salem Municipal Council. By 1916, he had joined Annie Besant\u2019s Home Rule League and established its Salem unit. In 1917, he became Chairman of the Salem Municipal Council, reflecting his growing political prominence.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Move to Madras and Meeting with Gandhi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; In 1919, Rajaji shifted to Madras to expand his public role. There, he met Mahatma Gandhi during his visit, a turning point that would deepen Rajaji\u2019s involvement in the Independence movement.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>C. Rajagopalachari: Freedom Struggle and the Rajaji Formula<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Rowlatt and <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/non-cooperation-movement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Non-Cooperation Movements<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1919\u201320) &#8211; Rajaji was an early supporter of the Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919. He later led the Non-Cooperation Movement in Tamil Nadu, giving up his successful legal practice and advocating boycott of elections, institutions, and official titles.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Salt Satyagraha in the South<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1930) &#8211; In April 1930, he led the historic march from Trichy to <\/span><b><i>Vedaranyam <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as part of the Salt Satyagraha. He was arrested multiple times for defying colonial authorities and distributing satyagraha material.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Differences During the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/quit-india-movement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Quit India Movement<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1942) &#8211; While a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, Rajaji differed with him during the Quit India Movement. He doubted that Britain would leave merely in response to slogans and instead advocated a negotiated settlement with the Muslim League.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>The Rajaji (CR) Formula<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji proposed a Congress\u2013Muslim League agreement, later known as the <\/span><b>Rajaji Formula<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which Gandhi agreed to consider.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Key Provisions<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Muslim League would cooperate in forming a provisional government.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Congress would accept a post-independence plebiscite in Muslim-majority districts of the North-West and East to decide on Pakistan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In case of partition, mutual agreements would safeguard defence, commerce, and communications.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1944, Rajaji conveyed Gandhi\u2019s acceptance of the proposal to Muhammad Ali Jinnah.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, Jinnah rejected it, arguing that the proposed Pakistan was smaller than demanded and conditional upon a plebiscite and treaty arrangements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Rajagopalachari on Hindi Policy and Temple Entry Reform<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Premier of Madras in 1938, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji introduced compulsory Hindi<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for Classes 6\u20138, describing it as \u201cchutney on a leaf \u2014 to be tasted or left alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students would not fail for poor performance. However, the move triggered widespread protests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the <\/span><b>anti-Hindi agitations of 1965<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Rajaji strongly opposed making Hindi the sole official language.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He criticised its imposition by majority force, arguing English functioned more effectively as a neutral link language. His objection was to coercion, not to Hindi itself.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Champion of Temple Entry and Social Reform<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji supported <\/span><b><i>M. C. Rajah\u2019s Bill<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remove social disabilities against Dalits<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, making discrimination in jobs, education, and public access punishable.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He also backed measures enabling temples to be opened to Dalits by majority approval.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though supportive, Rajaji limited the Temple Entry measure initially to the Malabar district, likely to avoid provoking orthodox backlash amid the Hindi controversy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>The Meenakshi Temple Breakthrough (1939)<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When trustees of the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai showed willingness to admit Dalits but feared legal consequences, Rajaji promised protective legislation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On July 8, 1939, Dalits entered the temple with official approval.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facing legal challenges and demands for ritual purification, Rajaji introduced the <\/span><b>Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Bill<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1939), protecting officials who permitted temple access.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soon, several temples in Tanjore and other regions opened their doors to Dalits.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Reformist Outlook<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Responding to scriptural objections at Srirangam, Rajaji remarked that sacred texts were like an \u201cinfinite ocean\u201d from which one could draw either wisdom or prejudice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His stance reflected a reformist vision balancing tradition with social justice while navigating political sensitivities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Rajaji and the Swatantra Party: A Liberal Alternative to Congress<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After serving as Home Minister under Jawaharlal Nehru (1950\u201351), Rajaji grew increasingly critical of Congress policies by the mid-1950s.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He feared that the party\u2019s dominance and statist, centralising approach could weaken democratic balance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji argued that democracy required a strong Opposition to act as a corrective \u201c<\/span><b><i>brake<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d on excessive state control.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He believed only a conservative\u2014or, as he preferred, constitutional\u2014party could provide a true democratic counterweight to Congress.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Formation of the Swatantra Party (1959)<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In August 1959, Rajaji founded the <\/span><b><i>Swatantra Party<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Freedom Party).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It evolved from earlier platforms like the Forum for Free Enterprise (1956) and the All India Agriculturalists\u2019 Federation (1958).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Swatantra Party championed <\/span><b>free enterprise<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but rejected unregulated 19th-century laissez-faire capitalism.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji <\/span><b>opposed \u201ccoercive Soviet-type planning<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d advocating regulation and guidance instead of extensive state ownership.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite promoting liberal economic principles, the party faced criticism. Nehru and others portrayed it as representing feudal and elite interests, dismissing it as a party of \u201cLords, castles and Zamindars.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Rajaji\u2019s Enduring Significance<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Replacing a colonial-era statue with that of C. Rajagopalachari at Rashtrapati Bhavan aligns with the emphasis on cultural nationalism and reinterpreting colonial legacies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>A Bridge from Colonial to Republican India<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He became Premier under the Government of India Act, 1935.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He succeeded Lord Mountbatten as Governor-General in 1948 \u2014 the only Indian to hold the post.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He served as Chief Minister of Madras (1952\u20131954).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His career reflected India\u2019s transition from colonial rule to sovereign republic.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Intellectual and Cultural Contributions<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji is also remembered for his accessible retellings of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ramayana<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mahabharata<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which remain widely read.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rajaji\u2019s conservative outlook, particularly his critique of Nehruvian socialism, resonates with contemporary political currents, including the BJP\u2019s economic and ideological positioning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Respected by both Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajaji was awarded the <\/span><b>Bharat Ratna in 1954<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and accorded a state funeral in 1972.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His life exemplified \u201c<\/span><b><i>principled flexibility<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d in politics \u2014 balancing conviction with pragmatic adaptation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-history\/rajagopalachari-statue-politics-anti-hindi-temples-bjp-10549267\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>C. Rajagopalachari legacy shines as Rashtrapati Bhavan honours the temple entry reformer, Swatantra Party founder, and Hindi policy critic with a new statue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":89860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[5699,60,22,1888],"class_list":{"0":"post-89761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-c-rajagopalachari","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affair","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89761"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89861,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89761\/revisions\/89861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}