Rajaji, an ardent follower of Gandhi, was a freedom fighter, scholar, jurist, statesman and the first recipient of the Bharat Ratna along with S Radhakrishnan and C V Raman.
Key Points
- Rajaji officially made the declaration that India was a Republic in 1950.
- He was the first Indian and last governor-general of India.
- Jurist, scholar, freedom fighter, he joined the freedom movement shortly after Gandhi.
- Later, disillusioned by the Congress, he founded the Swatantra Party.
Popularly known as 'Rajaji', Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was the first Indian and the last governor-general of India. The post was abolished after India became a Republic with the adoption of the Constitution in 1950.
He was the one who officially declared India a 'Republic' in the Durbar Hall in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Durbar Hall was renamed as 'Gantantra Mandap' in 2024. Gantantra is Hindi for Republic.
He was a scholar, jurist, freedom fighter and ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Younger to Gandhi by 9 years, the Mahatma called Rajaji his 'conscience keeper.'
He along with first vice president Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Nobel Laureate Sir C V Raman were the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna in 1954 when the award was first instituted.
Rajaji's daughter Lakshmi was married to Mahatma Gandhi's youngest son Devdas. Rajaji and Mahatma Gandhi are grandparents of Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, scholar-historian Rajmohan Gandhi, the late philosopher Ramchandra Gandhi and diplomat-former governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
A successful criminal lawyer in Tamil Nadu, he gave up a successful legal career and plunged into the freedom movement. He played an active role in the protests against the Rowlatt Act, Khilafat Movement, Salt March [in Tanjore, present day Tamil Nadu] Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement.
He also served as governor of Bengal in 1947-1948 when the state reeled under post-Partition riots.
He succeeded Sardar Patel as home minister after the former's passing in 1950 and was the first chief minister of Tamil Nadu between 1952 and 1954.
He left the Congress in 1957 disillusioned with its Socialist and economic policies and founded the Swatantra Party in 1959, a pro-market party. He fought against the Congress in three successive general elections -- 1962, 1967, 1971. In 1967, he allied with the C Annadurai's DMK in Tamil Nadu to defeat the Congress in the state.
The Swatantra Party declined after his death. Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur was a member of the party. She won the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat thrice -- 1962, 1967 and 1971.
Rajaji passed away at 95 on Christmas Day in 1972.
The Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand, Rajaji Salai in Chennai and Rajaji Hospital in Madurai are named after him.
A bust of Rajaji replaced Edwin Lutyens in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, February 23, 2026. The great grandson of Rajagopalachari, C R Kesavan, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party and formerly with the Congress, was present at the event.
Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, Rajmohan Gandhi and Gopal Gandhi were not present.
© 2026