Chakravarti Rajgopalachari (1876-1972), fondly known as Rajaji, was a major national leader of the Indian National Congress and the Indian Independence Movement. He was the first Indian Governor General of the Dominion of India (1948-1950), a long-serving Member of Parliament, Union Minister for External Affairs, and later the political leader of the right-wing Swatantrata Party. Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party, abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ... The Indian Independence Movement was a series of revolutions empowered by the people of India put forth to battle the British Empire for complete political independence, beginning with the Rebellion of 1857. ...

Hailing from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, then known as the Madras Presidency, Rajaji was one of the earliest supporters of Mahatma Gandhi. A lawyer by education and vocation, Rajaji established and ran several Ashramas, like Gandhi did in Ahmedabad, Wardha and Sevagram. Rajaji was a fierce opponent of untouchability, caste discrimination, alcoholism and the oppression of women, and his efforts and leadership were the pivotal force behind the nationalist movement in Tamil Nadu and South India in general. He was a strong advocate of peaceful resistance and Hindu-Muslim unity. He was arrested by the British several times for long periods in revolts of 1920-1922 and 1930-1934. Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी, Gujarati મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી) was a national icon who led the struggle for Indias independence from British colonial rule, empowered by tens of millions of common Indians. ... Ahmedabad (અમદાવાદ in Gujarati) or Ahmadābād is the largest city in Gujarat and the sixth largest city in India with a population of almost 5 million. ... Wardha is a district in Maharashtra, India. ... Sevagram is Hindi for village of servants and the name of a village in the state of Maharashtra, India which was the place of Mohandas Gandhis ashram. ...

With Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, his close friend, Rajaji embodied the right-wing of Indian politics and the Congress in general, as opposed to the more leftist and radical Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose. Rajaji was repeatedly offered the presidency of the Congress Party, but he turned it down every time. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was Deputy Prime Minister of India till his death in 1950 Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (October 31, 1875–December 15, 1950), popularly referred to as Sardar Patel (Sardar stands for Chief or Leader), was an Indian statesman, core leader of the national freedom struggle and of the Indian... Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू, Javāharlāl Nehrū) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964), also called Pandit (Teacher) Nehru, was the leader of the socialist wing of the Indian National Congress during and after Indias struggle for independence from the British Empire. ... Netaji poster in Thiruvananthapuram Subhas Chandra Bose (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945) also known as Netaji, was a Orissa born and Bengal based Indian leader of the movement to win independence from British rule. ...

When the Federation of India plan was conceived to offer Indians more self-government and civil rights, the Congress Party contested the elections and swept the polls in every province. Rajaji became the undisputed choice of Premier for the Madras Presidency, and served from 1934 to 1938 in that capacity. Rajaji was the senior-most South Indian leader in the freedom struggle, and his prestige and leadership in Tamil Nadu enjoyed an unquestionable status.

With the outbreak of World War II, Rajaji became the exact opposite of Subhas Chandra Bose, the pro-Axis organizer of the Indian National Army that fought the British in Assam and Bengal ahead of the Japanese Army in Burma. Rajaji advocated the backing of the British in the war, and opposed Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement in 1942. He resigned from the Congress Party Working Committee, and took to organizing support amongst other Indian political groups. He even attempted to bring Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League to his coalition by advocating a truncated Pakistan, a separate Muslim state. The idea was fiercely opposed by all Congressmen, and Jinnah never responded with any enthusiasm, but Rajaji's Pakistan was the exact territory state that was carved out in 1947. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest, most expensive, and most significant war in... Netaji poster in Thiruvananthapuram Subhas Chandra Bose (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945) also known as Netaji, was a Orissa born and Bengal based Indian leader of the movement to win independence from British rule. ... The Indian National Army was an auxiliary force to the Imperial Japanese Army in its southern mainland campaign during the Second World War. ... Assam (অসম) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur. ... Bengal, known as Bôngo (Bengali:বঙ্গ), Bangla (বাংলা), Bôngodesh (বঙ্গদেশ), or Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ) in Bangla (Bengali), is a region in the northeast of South Asia. ... The Quit India Movement was a call for immediate independence for India issued by MK Gandhi on August 8, 1942. ... Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah (referred to in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam, or Great Leader, which is a legally defined title) (December 25, 1876 - September 11, 1948) was an Indian Muslim nationalist, who led the movement demanding a separate homeland for Muslims in... Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the Great Leader of the Muslim League The All India Muslim League was a political party in British India and was the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state from British India on the Indian subcontinent. ...

Rajaji returned to the Congress after the successful end of the movement, when the British released all prisoners and began a dialogue process with the Congress to transfer power. Apart from Gandhiji and behind Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajaji was the third-most important Congressman, intimately involved in the intensive political process, crucial issues and decision-making, trials and tribulations that led to the political independence of India and the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was Deputy Prime Minister of India till his death in 1950 Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (October 31, 1875–December 15, 1950), popularly referred to as Sardar Patel (Sardar stands for Chief or Leader), was an Indian statesman, core leader of the national freedom struggle and of the Indian... Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू, Javāharlāl Nehrū) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964), also called Pandit (Teacher) Nehru, was the leader of the socialist wing of the Indian National Congress during and after Indias struggle for independence from the British Empire. ... The Partition of India was the process by which British dependencies and treaty states in the Indian subcontinent were granted independence in the 1940s. ...

Rajaji stayed out of free India's first Government, opting to go as Governor of West Bengal. But in early 1948, he was recalled by Patel and Nehru to take over from the departing, last English Governor-General Lord Louis Mountbatten. Thus the triumvirate of Governor General Rajaji, Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister and Home and States Minister Sardar Patel was formed. The trio handled the most crucial issues of the integration of India, its national security and the Kashmir War (1947-1948) and the writing of the country's Constitution (finished January 26, 1949) and the proclamation of the Republic (January 26, 1950), filling the deep need for strong leadership created by the traumatic murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Rajaji's key contributions were to keep the most forceful leaders, Patel and Nehru working by consensus and unity. Rajaji balanced conservative, pro-business and right-wing policy convictions with more expressive support for Hindu-Muslim unity despite Pakistan and a secular nation. Rajaji also backed Patel's Operation Polo, military integration of the state of Hyderabad, which Nehru was averse to. West Bengal (পশ্চিম বঙ্গ, Pościm Bôngo) is a state in the eastern region of India. ... Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ...

Rajaji was a favorite choice to be the first President of the Republic, and indeed favored both by Nehru and Patel. But the party opted for Dr. Rajendra Prasad as he was the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly and architect of the Constitution itself. And the party could not forget, if Patel and Nehru could, Rajaji's opposition to the Quit India movement. Rajaji stepped down, but re-joined Nehru's Cabinet as Minister for External Affairs, responsible for foreign policy. Dr. Rajendra Prasad (December 3, 1884–February 28, 1963) was the first President of India. ...

With Patel's death on December 15, 1950, Nehru's power and role increased in importance, and Rajaji began evolving major differences on national policy. Rajaji left the Nehru-dominated Congress Party in 1953, forming the right-wing, pro-business and socially conservative Swatanrata (Independence) Party, which with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed the right-wing of Indian politics. But although Rajaji and the party enjoyed notable successes, they could never offer a real threat to the iconic Nehru, darling of the people, and the mighty Congress Party. By the early 1960s, the Tamil nationalist Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham replaced the Swatantrata party as a major non-Congress force in Tamil Nadu, and an ageing Rajaji's political role and standing diminished further. Never retired from politics, Rajaji died in Chennai in 1972, at the ripe, old age of 96, outliving Gandhi, Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru all together. Bharatiya Jana Sangh is the old name of Bharatiya Janata Party of India. ... Chennai (சென்னை in Tamil), formerly known as Madras, is the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu and is Indias fourth largest city. ...