Virudhunagar: The humble abode of K. Kamaraj in Virudhunagar, converted into a memorial, still draws hordes of visitors, many of them openly reminiscing about the days of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu as the golden period of the state.
Overwhelmed by the apparent humility of Kamaraj, so very evident in the three-room house he lived in whenever he visited his home town, R.V. Sharma (75), said “today even a panchayat ward councilor lives in a house bigger than this”.
Sharma had come all the way from Agasthiarpatti village in Tirunelveli just to spend a few hours in Kamaraj’s old house. ‘’I still remember him asking youngsters to hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable for their actions when he visited our village Vikramasingapuram to lay the foundation stone for water schemes in the 1970’s,” he recalled.
Agitated over the absence of villagers at the function, Kamaraj asked students playing near the venue whether they were aware of the new drinking water scheme to their village. “When we replied in the negative, Kamaraj explained the scheme to us. Before he left the place, he advised us to use education to work for the wellbeing of downtrodden communities,” he said.
“Can you show me one such politician today, committed to improve the welfare of common people,” he asked, pointing to the scores of pictures that narrate Kamaraj’s political journey. Committed to his version of “socialism”, which meant that those who are backward should progress, Kamaraj remained truthful to his belief and in implementing it by providing what is essential for man’s living such as “dwelling, job, food and education.”
Many others in Virudhunagar, too, fondly remember Kamaraj’s unique style of functioning as Chief Minister. M.S.N. Ganeshan (83), a staunch follower, recalled an incident in 1955 when he had accompanied the Chief Minister to Theni constituency. The then Congress MLA, N.R. Thiagarajan, urged Kamaraj to take stringent action against members of a community waylaying and looting people travelling from Madurai to Theni.
When Kamaraj directed the collector to conduct a survey for the construction of the dam near Andipatti and submit the report within a month, a perplexed Thiagarajan asked him why he wanted to construct a dam when his complaint was about highway robbery. Kamaraj patiently explained to him that people were indulging in the crime because they did not have a steady source of income and they were also lacking in education. ‘The dam will help them cultivate their barren land and thereby improve their socio-economic status,” he said, adding that Kamaraj closely monitored the progress of the Vaigai dam construction project inaugurated on January 29, 1959.
Another 74-year-old disciple of Kamaraj, V. Kamarasan, recalled how he revived 6,000 schools (under kulakalvi thittam which was later given up by Congress) closed down by his predecessor Rajajagopalachari. “Ayya (Kamaraj) made it successful not just by opening more schools, but by meeting the people in the villages and explaining to them the importance of education. The result of his interaction with the people was the introduction of the free mid day meals scheme to encourage poor rural parents to send their wards to school,” he said.
The other important aspect of Kamaraj’s achievements never usually discussed in public forums was his commitment to eradication of untouchability in the state, he said. Recalling the method adopted by Kamaraj, his close aide K. Paramalai (84), former MLA, said that Kamaraj appointed B. Parameswaran, a member of the Dalit community, as minister for Hindu Religious Endowments so that whenever he visited the temples the upper caste people were forced to give him a warm reception and welcome people accompanying him inside the temple.
This apart, during his village tours, Kamaraj would call all people to assemble near the tree and chat with them in a causal manner emphasising the need to end caste discrimination. “Kamaraj will first win the confidence of village elders and through them he will implement it. If he found prevalence of two-tumbler system, he would personally appeal to tea shop owners to put an end to the discriminatory practice,” said Kumarasan.
Moreover, Kamaraj never showed favouritism or nepotism. “Once when my brother Shanmugham asked help to establish a business, Kamaraj asked him to leave the place immediately,” said J. Jawahar (80), a close relative of Kamaraj.
‘If you want to earn money, go and work like other people in the village, don’t come to me,” were the words of Kamaraj to all those who approached him for favours, Jawahar recalled. Perhaps it was his uncompromising attitude that prompted people of Virudhunagar to defeat him in the 1967 Assembly election.
“We regret it now. In those days people from Nagercoil used to refuse even to give a glass of water to people from Virudhunagar after the election. If they had to entertain us they will would spare us from giving us a piece of their mind,” said Antony (67), a businessman. (Nagercoil, where Kamaraj was affectionately known as ‘Apache’, elected him to the Lok Sabha in 1969, rehabilitating him politically almost immediately after his assembly defeat.)
