Bhishmacharya of Kerala Politics

Member of the constituent assembly, Prime Minister of Travancore, Chief Minister of Travancore- Cochin, Chief Minister of Kerala, Governor of Punjab, Governor of Andhra, an activist, lawyer, and politician, Pattom A. Thanu Pillai donned many hats.

Pattom A. Thanu Pillai played an important role in the political developments of Kerala; Image Source: Public Domain

Starting his career as a legal practitioner, Pattom Thanu Pillai abandoned his practice to pursue the cause of agitation for a responsible government. He joined the Congress in the princely state of Travancore and quickly reached the higher ranks because of his hard work.

He was born as A. Thanu Pillai while Pattom was the name of his village in Thiruvananthapuram where he was born. It was added to his name making it Pattom Thanu Pillai or popularly PTP.

A.Thanu Pillai was instrumental in the administration of Travancore during its merger with Independent India. Travancore had declared itself as an independent kingdom in June 1947. The transition of Travancore from a princely state to an independent state was under the prime ministership of Pattom A. Thanu Pillai, who became the first Prime Minister of the independent state of Travancore in March 1948. He was appointed by the king, Chithura Thirunal himself.

As the expressed desires of Travancore to remain an independent state was not acceptable to the Indian Government, many rounds of negotiation between VP Menon and the King of Travancore began with the latter conceding to the accession of his kingdom to the Union of India in 1949. This led to the creation of a merged state of Travancore-Kochi which was however short-lived.

Pillai, who had by now resigned from his position as the Prime Minister of Travancore in October 1947 had joined the Praja Socialist Party.

The elections to the third legislative assembly for the merged state of Travancore - Cochin were held in 1954 when Thanu Pillai was appointed as the Chief Minister even though his party failed to secure majority seats. A coalition had been formed between the Praja Socialist Party and his former party- Congress appointing PTP as the Chief Minister who remained in office for a period of one year before resigning his post.

The state of Kerala created in 1956 under the States’ Reorganization Act had PTP as its second chief minister after EMS Namboothiripad resigned and a President’s Rule was imposed in the state. Fresh elections to the Assembly in 1960 saw yet another coalition being formed by the Praja Socialist Party, Congress, and the Muslim League.

Even though it was the Congress that had secured the highest number of votes among all three, its leader, R. Sankar, belonged to the ezhava caste (a lower caste) whose chief ministership was disfavoured by the Nayar community who were the major supporters of Congress.

Thus once again PTP with the support of Congress and the Muslim League was appointed as the democratic leader of the state of Kerala. Resigning from his post in 1962, he made way for R. Sankar to take over his reins.

His peers often remembered him as the one who took up the responsibility and reached heights but more importantly, he also knew when to step down.

On the day of his death anniversary, we remember and honour his contributions to the political developments of the nation.