Even as a contest looks likely for the post of president of the All-India Congress Committee, Tamil Nadu faced famous electoral battles within the organisation, on several occasions in the past, for president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) and leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).
Even K. Kamaraj (1903-75), who dominated the State politics for over 35 years until his death in October 1975, had to face contests in 1940 and 1954 to become the TNCC chief and CLP leader before occupying the post of Chief Minister, according to documents available with The Hindu Archives.
S. Satyamurti (1887-1943), Kamaraj’s political mentor and one of the powerful orators, despite being one of the towering figures of the Congress during the pre-Independence era, had suffered defeats in the elections to the post of TNCC president in 1936 and 1939. On the first occasion, at the polling held in Vellore in December 1936, Satyamurti, the then sitting president, lost to C.N. Muthuranga Mudaliar by 45 votes. The winner secured 104 votes and the loser polled 59 votes, according to a news item published in The Hindu on December 6, 1936.
