Commonweal Party

The Commonweal Party ( CWL , Tamil காமன்வீல் கட்சி , "Party of the Common Good ") was a political party founded in 1951 in the then Indian state of Madras (now Tamil Nadu ). The party represented the interests of Vanniyar - caste .

Party history

State of Madras in 1951. The four districts with the highest proportion of Vanniyar are darker in color. Districts 1 to 12 were split off from Madras in 1953 when the state of Andhra was formed .

In the run-up to the first parliamentary elections in independent India 1951-52 , the Tamil Nadu Toilers Party (TNT) was founded in Madras state to represent the interests of the Vanniyar caste. The party had its main focus in the four districts of North Arcot , South Arcot , Chingleput and Salemwhere the Vanniyar made up about 25 percent of the population. Shortly after the party was founded, however, there was a rift between the two people mainly involved in the founding of the party, NA Manikkavelu Naicker and SS Ramaswami Padayachi, with the result that Naicker left the party and founded his own Vanniyar party. Despite the fact that it was an interest party par excellence , this party was given the euphemizing name Commonweal Party (CWL, "Party of the Common Good"). The CWL had its main focus in the districts of North Arcot and Chingleput , while the TNT dominated in South Arcot and Salem .

In the election to the all-Indian parliament 1951-52, the CWL won three constituency seats and in the simultaneous election to the state parliament of Madras 218,288 votes (1.1%) and 6 constituency seats (1.9%). When the northern 12 districts of Madras were separated when the state of Andhra was formed in 1953, the members elected there left the parliament of Madras, so that it then comprised 190 members. The relative weight of the CWL MPs rose to 3.1%. The CWL participated from 1952 in a congressional party-led coalition government under the Chief Ministers C. Rajagopalachari (1952-54) and K. Kamaraj (from 1954). Before the upcoming second all-India parliamentary election in 1957 , the party disbanded and its MPs joined the Congress party.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Lloyd I. Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph: The Political Role of India's Caste Associations . In: Pacific Affairs . tape 33 , no. 1 . University of British Columbia Press, March 1960, pp. 5-22 , JSTOR : 2753645 (English).
^ Election Results - Full Statistical Reports. Indian Election Commission, accessed on December 10, 2016 (English, election results of all Indian elections to the Lok Sabha and the parliaments of the states since independence).

[Rudolph-1] A ^b Lloyd I. Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph: The Political Role of India's Caste Associations . In: Pacific Affairs . tape 33 , no. 1 . University of British Columbia Press, March 1960, pp. 5-22 , JSTOR : 2753645 (English).

[2] Election Results - Full Statistical Reports. Indian Election Commission, accessed on December 10, 2016 (English, election results of all Indian elections to the Lok Sabha and the parliaments of the states since independence).