P. Jeevanandham - Political Life (After Indian Independence)

Political Life (After Indian Independence)

After Indian Independence, the ban on the Communist Party of India (CPI) was lifted, and all its leaders were released.

In the first general elections in post independent India, Jeevanandham contested for a seat for the Legislative Assembly from the Wasermanpet constituency in Madras (present Chennai), and won with a huge margin. P. Ramamurti, who was in jail then, was also elected with a comfortable majority, from a Madurai constituency.

After being elected to the Legislative Assembly, Jeevanandham put pressure on the government to initiate action on crucial issues. His speeches in the Assembly on issues relating to development schemes, reform measures and the language policy won due attention from the ruling Congress party and great admiration from people. His speech on the Official Language Bill echoed the feelings of the ordinary people in the State and revealed his vision on the cultural front. During this period, he also led many struggles, one of which was against the proposal to form Dakshina Pradesh comprising the four southern States. He thought this would be against the linguistic aspirations of the people in the four States. Although Jeevanandham lost in the subsequent elections, he continued his party work with the same zeal.

Jeevanandham also led agitations and was instrumental in merging the present-day Kanyakumari District, which was then with the Travancore-Cochin state, with the then Madras state (present Tamil Nadu).