P. Govinda Menon's Legacy, in Kerala and Beyond

This article is part of a series by The Wire titled ‘The Early Parliamentarians’, exploring the lives and work of post-independence MPs who have largely been forgotten. The series looks at the institutions they helped create, the enduring ideas they left behind and the contributions they made to nation building.

The first prime minister of erstwhile princely state of Travancore-Cochin (now Kerala) in independent India, Panampilli Govinda Menon was a freedom fighter, spellbinding orator, eminent lawyer, trade unionist, an able administrator and a distinguished parliamentarian.

While he was in school, Menon excelled in public speaking and in literary events. When Rabindranath Tagore visited Kerala in 1922, and was going to attend a public event at Aluva, via Chalakudy, Menon and his friends went to meet him. He was punished for this by the school authorities.

Menon was born in a village Kakkad, Trichur, Kerala on October 1, 1908. He studied at St. Thomas College Trichur. During this time he got involved in the freedom movement.

He completed his honours degree in physics from St. Joseph’s College, Trichy. He also studied law from Law College, Madras after which he practised in the lower courts and the high court of Kerala.

Role in the independence movement

As a student, Menon was involved in politics and actively participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-1925), an anti-caste struggle in Kerala. He became an active member of the Congress after his participation in the Guruvayur Satyagraha (1931-1932).

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

The Vaikom Satyagraha and the Guruvayur Satyagraha were non-violent movements in the princely state of Travancore (present-day Kerala) that fought against untouchability and caste discrimination, primarily focusing on temple entry rights for lower-caste Hindus.

Mahatma Gandhi himself visited Vaikom in March 1925. The Travancore government eventually constructed new roads near the temple for the use of lower castes. The roads, however, kept the lower castes adequately away from the near environs of the Vaikom Temple and the temple continued to remain closed to the lower castes.

After Gandhi's intervention, a compromise was reached with Regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi who released all those arrested and opened the public roads leading to Vaikom Mahadeva Temple to all castes. However, Bayi refused to open the eastern road. The compromise was criticised by E.V. Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ and some others.

The significance of these movements (Vaikom and Guruvayur) was that they paved the way for the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936, which allowed all Hindus to enter temples in Travancore. This was a significant step in challenging the caste system and promoting social justice in Kerala.

Menon was one of the pioneers of the Cochin State Prajamandalam, an organisation formed with the objective of achieving a responsible government and continued as one of the chief activists of the organisation. Menon was also the first treasurer of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham. He got more involved in politics and later joined the Indian National Congress.

Menon served as a member of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and the All India Congress Committee. He took active part in the campaign for the boycott of foreign cloth and other movements in Kerala.

As a parliamentarian

The eventful political career of Menon began with his election to Cochin State Legislature in 1935 at the age of 27, and he was re-elected in 1938. But he resigned from Cochin Legislative Assembly in 1942, protesting the repressive policy of the British Cochin Government and joined the Quit India Movement in 1942. In the same year, Menon was arrested and detained under the defence rules and imprisoned in Viyyur Central jail for ten months.

Menon again returned to the Cochin Legislative Assembly from Ernakulam Constituency as a Prajamandalam candidate in 1946. He became the food minister of Cochin in September 1946.

With independence, Menon became first prime minister (chief minister) of the then princely state of Travancore-Cochin (now Kerala), in August, 1947. However, because of a police lathi charge on October 17, 1947, he resigned from chief ministership.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

Meanwhile, Menon had already been elected to the Constituent Assembly of India as a representative of the princely state of Cochin in the Constituent Assembly. He made a few valuable interventions in the assembly and earned his name in national politics. While in the Constitution Assembly he was a Member of the Steering Committee of the assembly.

He was elected once again to the Cochin Legislative Assembly in 1948 and became a member in the ministry headed by E. Ikkanda Warrier. He also served as a member of the Such Committee on the integration of Cochin and Travancore States.

With the formation of Travancore-Cochin State in 1949 he became a member of the cabinet headed by T.K. Narayana Pillai. He served as the food minister and as minister for education of Cochin under Pillai.

Menon was also an elected member of the provisional parliament 1950-52. After the first general elections on the basis of adult suffrage in 1952, he was elected again to Travancore-Cochin Legislature and became finance minister under Anaparambil Joseph John's ministry.

After the union of Travancore and Cochin and the general elections of 1954, Menon became the Kerala Assembly Congress Party leader. He was elected the chief minister of Travancore-Cochin State for a year in 1955-1956.

In the first general elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1957 after the re-organisation of the state, he was defeated. But Menon was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1962 from the Mukundapuram constituency in Kerala. He represented this constituency from 1962 until his death in 1970. On January 24, 1966 he was appointed the minister of state in charge of food, agriculture, community development and cooperation in the Union cabinet headed by Indira Gandhi. In the general elections to the Lok Sabha in 1967, Menon had the distinction of being the only Congress candidate to have been returned from Kerala.

He was appointed law minister on March 13, 1967 and on August 22, 1967 he was given the charge of the Ministry of Law and Social Welfare. Later he was appointed cabinet minister for law and railways (1969-1970).

Menon played various roles in public affairs and was known for advocating for the underprivileged and for improving the status of teachers. He was a member of the Third Finance Commission, 1961. He was also the political mentor of K. Karunakaran, later chief minister of Kerala.

When the Congress party split in 1969, he sided with Indira Gandhi. He remained a Congressman till his death. He suddenly passed away at New Delhi on the May 23, 1970 at the age of 62.

In 2006, the birth centenary celebrations of Panampilly Govinda Menon were inaugurated by the then President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Later in his memory a college was built in Chalakudy named Panampilly Memorial Government College and the Lok Sabha secretariat published a monograph on his contribution to the nation in 1990.

Qurban Ali is a trilingual journalist who has covered some of modern India’s major political, social and economic developments. He has a keen interest in India’s freedom struggle and is now documenting the history of the socialist movement in the country.

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