Raja of Panagal - Later Years

Later Years

Ramarayaningar was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire on June 5, 1926. In the Assembly elections which took place on November 8, 1926, no party was able to get a clean majority. The Swarajya Party won 41 of the 98 seats and emerged as the single largest party while the Justice party won 21. The Raja resigned as the Chief Minister of the Presidency as the popular verdict appeared to be against the Justice Party. As no party had a clean majority and the Swarajya Party which was the single largest party in the assembly was reluctant to form the government, the Governor appointed P. Subbarayan as the independent Chief Minister and nominated 34 members to the Council to support him.

In 1927, the Simon Commission which was appointed to report on the working of the progress of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms landed in India. The Swarajya Party moved a resolution to boycott the Commission and this was passed 61 to 50 with 12 remaining neutral. The Justice Party and the Swarajists supported the resolution while the Chief Minister P. Subbarayan opposed it and requested his ministers to resign. However, Lord Goschen, the Governor, was able to obtain the support of the Raja of Panagal by making a Justice Party member, M. Krishnan Nair, a Cabinet minister. Led by the Raja of Panagal, the Justice Party switched sides and lent its support to the Subbarayan government. Soon afterwards, the Justice Party passed a resolution welcoming the Simon Commission. The Simon Commission visited Madras on February 28, 1928 and February 18, 1929 and was boycotted by the Swarajya Party and the Indian National Congress. However, the Justicites and the Subbarayan Government accorded the Commission a warm reception.