Birth:
Bhaktavatsalam was born in Nazarethpet of Madras Presidency to C. N. Kanakasabhapathi Mudaliar and his wife Malligammal. Unfortunately he lost his father at the age of 5.Then bought up by his uncles
Education
Bhaktavatsalam did his schooling in Lutheran Mission School, Purasaiwakam. And higher studies at the Pinathur Subramanyan High School, Mylapore. Narasimmavariar was his first teacher and Dr. U.V. Swaminathaiar was his teacher on his intermediate studies. Once he finished his school, he joined Madras Law College to pursue Law. As a student he showed interest on Congress work. In 1922, he becomes the member of Provincial Congress Committee. Once he finished his graduation on 1923, he started to practice as a lawyer under Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer in Madras High Court. On 1926, he becomes the member of congress working committee.
Personal Life
Bhaktavatsalam had his marriage with Ganasundarambal. He has a daughter named Sarojini Varadappan. She is a social activist. Not only her daughter but his granddaughter Jayanthi Natarajan too works for Indian National Congress. She is an ex Union Minister and also a Rajya Sabha member.
Early political Life
Bhaktavatsalam practiced as an advocate in Madras High Court. But that doesn’t extend for a long time. He gave up being an advocate on 1927 and took over the business. In 1928, he boycotted the Simon commission. Bhaktavatsalam become the branch secretary of Tropical Insurance Co, Delhi. As an act of intimating Congress propaganda, Bhaktavatsalam started a daily newspaper called India which will is issued in Tamil language. He managed the newspaper until the year of 1933. He served as a secretary of Madras Mahajana Sabha and also for the Tamilnadu Congress Civic Board. In the Municipal elections of 1935 and 1936, Bhaktavatsalam played a leading role in maintaining the District board.
Bhaktavatsalam in Kamaraj ministries:
Bhaktavatsalam is one among the ministers of Kamaraj ministry. Before becoming the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, he was a minister of first Kamaraj ministry. He was the minister of workers welfare, social development scheme and Agriculture. And next in the second and third ministry of Kamaraj, he hold multiple titles such as Prohibition, Prison, Home, Police, Courts, Charitable Institutions, Finance, Education and Labor Welfare. So he has a good knowledge on the administration duties. Bhaktavatsalam not only understand the peoples need but also the solutions to them. At the same time he gained grounds on the politics of the ground.
Salt Satyagraha and Bhaktavatsalam
The Salt Satyagraha movement takes place at Vedaranyam on 28th March, 1930. In that movement Bhaktavatsalam participated. He got beaten up with lathi. Finally he got arrested with K. Kamaraj, S. Satyamurthi and C. Rajagopalachari.
Bhaktavatsalam – a whip of congress party
In 1932, Bhaktavatsalam was arrested and sentenced to prison for 6 months for celebrating India’s Independence Day. In 1936 he becomes the Deputy Mayor of Madras City Corporation on the congress ticket. He is considered as a whip of congress party in the legislature and Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for Local Self Government.
Bhaktavatsalam at Quit India movement
On 1937 election, Bhaktavatsalam got won the Thiruvallur seat. Then he entered the Madras Assembly. In the Rajaji government, he served as a parliament secretary to the minister local self government. When United Kingdom declared war, Bhaktavatsalam resigned along with other office holders of Indian National Congress. He was sentenced to jail by the British government when he participated in the Quit India movement. When he got released n 1944, he was elected on the Constituent Assembly of India.
Chief Minister of Madras State – Bhaktavatsalam:
In 1964, Bhaktavatsalam stood in the Madras Assemble Election and re-elected. In the O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar cabinet, Bhaktavatsalam served as a minster of public works and information. But in the first election after India got Independence, Bhaktavatsalam got lost. In 1957 he becomes the home minister of Kamaraj cabinet by wining eth Sriperumbedur seat and entering the Assembly.
On October 2, 1963, K. Kamaraj volunteered to resign the Chief Minister ship of Madras state. That is to strengthen his political party. So after K. Kamaraj, Bhaktavatsalam succeeded as a Chief Minister. He served as a Chief Minister of Madras State from 1963 – 1967. But at the end of 1967, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam gained a lot of political support. And Congress lost a lot of support in Madras.
Not only that, but his tenure is a pure torment to the people of nation because of the Chinese incursion on 1962. The increase in the price of commodities, cause the fall of pulse and grains productions. Fixed rate of the goods affected the farmers to a great extent. In his time the state faced drought too. Lack of monsoon rain is one of the reasons too.
And M. Bhaktavatsalam formed his ministries on October 3, 1963. Mainly because of the Hindi as a compulsory language and the agriculture at its stake worsen the situation. The third five year plan was also an eye pain for the farmers. Still the governments encouraged the production of paddy through loan and subsidies. But all of them were not permanent solutions.
Projects of Bhaktavatsalam tenure:
He introduced the family Ration card system. Initially this system was practiced at districts like Madras, Salem, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. He also introduces a vigilance system to look after the selling price of the rice. At that time the selling price of rice per kg was .88paise.
Bhaktavatsalam promoted Farm Management Schemes along with the irrigation facilities. So the Farm Management Schemes helped the farmers to produce a massive yield. Also the irrigation facility includes reservoirs, canals and dams. Not only that but also the cleaning lakes, tanks and ponds were also undertaken. Some of the dam projects were listed below:
- The Pararmbikulam Aliyar Dam got completed in 1965. And it supports more than 1 lakh acre in Coimbatore.
- On April 15, 1964 Perunchani Dam and Kodayar river Project was started.
- The Manimukthnadhi Reservoir Project in Kallidaikkurichi was executed at the cost of 91 lakhs.
- It took 89 lakhs to finish the Gatana Reservoir Scheme at Ambasamudram Taluk.
- 285 lakhs were spent for urban water supply schemes.
- 180 lakhs were spent for water supply and drainage scheme in Madras.
So these schemes improved the quantum cultivation and improved production on the respective area.
Irrigation facilities – Bhaktavatsalam:
A new process called the land reclamation processes. It is possible with the sufficient water facilities from Tirumuthi Dam, Sarkarappatti Turnel and Solaiar Dam. So it helped to irrigate more than 2.4 lakhs of acres of arid land in Coimbatore. The 45,000 acres of land were irrigated by the Pararmbikulam Tunakkadavu and Tirumoorthy dams which got completed on 1966.
On Bhaktavatsalam period an amount of Rs.258 lakhs was allotted for Gomukinathi Project. For the people of Perambalur Taluk, Koneri river reservoirs and Manjalar Dam came into the scene. Manjalar Dam took 65 lakhs and Koneri river reservoirs took Rs. 7.73 lakhs. Importantly for the remodeling of Kaveri Delta, an amount of 12 crores was set aside.
Books of Bhaktavatsalam:
Bhaktavatsalam has written two books. They are
- The Absurdity of Anti-Hindi Policy
- West Asia: Problems and Prospects. Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division
Dark side of Bhaktavatsalam
Bhaktavatsalam was remembered by the people as a Chief Minister for his good deeds but his act of opposition during anti-Hindi agitations of 1965 bought him a lot of Criticism. He supported the idea of adding Hindi as a compulsory language in Tamilnadu along with English and Tamil. Also he opposed to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and created a lot of public property damage. A number of anti-Hindi protestors in Tamilnadu too died.
M. S. Golwalkar, notable RSS leader in August 1963, formed a Swami Vivekananda Centenary Committee with Eknath Ranade as its secretary. Since Kanyakumari is the birth place of Swami Vivekananda, they want to build a rock memorial to honor him. Union Minister for Cultural Affairs, Humayun Kabir and Chief Minister Bhaktavatsalam opposed the idea very badly. But the plan got succeeded when Eknath Ranade presented a letter with a sign from 323 members of parliament. So this is also considered as a black name for him.
Death
Bhaktavatsalam died on his age of 89 and he is placed in Guindy. That is near the tomb of “Kingmaker K.Kamaraj”.