After Mahatma Gandhi joined the Indian independence movement in 1919, Rajaji became one of his followers.

At Nehru's invitation, in 1950 Rajaji joined the Union Cabinet as Minister without Porfolio where he served as a buffer between Nehru and Home Minister Sardar Patel and on occasion offered to mediate between the two.

* C. Rajagopalachari, also known as Rajaji: Indian freedom fighter, Gandhian, leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Swatantra party.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari ( Cakravartī Rācakōpālācārī ) ( 10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972 ), informally called Rajaji or C. R., was an Indian lawyer, independence activist, politician, writer and statesman.

Rajaji was an accomplished writer who made lasting contributions to Indian English literature and is also credited with composition of the song Kurai Onrum Illai set to Carnatic music.

Rajaji was a close friend of the founder of Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company V. O. Chidambaram Pillai as well as greatly admired by Indian independence activists Annie Besant and C. Vijayaraghavachariar.

When the Indian National Congress split in 1923, Rajaji was a member of the Civil Disobedience Enquiry Committee.

When Mahatma Gandhi organized the Dandi march in 1930, Rajaji broke the salt laws at Vedaranyam near Nagapattinam along with Indian independence activist Sardar Vedaratnam and was afterwards imprisoned by the British.

Following enactment of the Government of India Act in 1935, Rajaji was instrumental in getting the Indian National Congress to participate in the 1937 general elections.

" Rajaji then served as Governor-General of India from June 1948 until 26 January 1950, and was not only the last Governor-General of India, but the only Indian national ever to hold the office.

Backed by Nehru, Rajaji wanted to stand for the presidential election but later withdrew, due to the opposition of a section of the Indian National Congress mostly made up of North Indians who were concerned about Rajaji's non-participation during the Quit India Movement.

Though he did not participate, Madras governor Sri Prakasa appointed Rajaji Chief Minister after nominating him to the Madras Legislative Council without consulting either the Indian Prime Minister Nehru or the ministers in the Madras state cabinet.

Rajaji was then able to prove that he had a majority in the assembly by luring MLAs from opposition parties to join the Indian National Congress.

Rajaji tendered his official resignation from the Indian National Congress and along with a number of other dissidents organised the Congress Reform Committee ( CRC ) in January 1957.

On June 4, 1959, shortly after the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress, Rajaji, along with Murari Vaidya of the newly established Forum of Free Enterprise ( FFE ) and Minoo Masani, a classical liberal and critic of socialist Nehru, announced the formation of the new Swatantra Party at a meeting in Madras.

At the age of 88, Rajaji worked to forge a united opposition to the Indian National Congress through a tripartite alliance between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Swatantra Party and the Forward Bloc.

Rajaji pleaded with him not to repeal prohibition but to no avail and as a result, the Swatantra Party withdrew its support for the state government and instead allied with the Congress ( O ), a breakaway faction of the Indian National Congress led by Kamaraj.

In the 1937 elections, the Justice Party lost and the Indian National Congress under C. Rajagopalachari (" Rajaji ") came to power in Madras Presidency.

Devdas fell in love with Lakshmi, the daughter of Rajaji, Devdas's father's associate in the Indian independence struggle.

In 2002 he received the Sahitya Akademi ( India ’ s National Academy of Letters ) Award for his Rajaji: A Life, a biography of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari ( 1878-1972 ), his maternal grandfather and a leading figure in India ’ s freedom movement, who became the first Indian Governor General, 1948-50.

* in the Shivaliks – Gangetic flood plain landscape there are six populations with an estimated population size of 259 to 335 individuals occupying of forested habitats, which are located in Rajaji and Corbett national parks, in the connected habitats of Dudhwa-Kheri-Pilibhit, in Suhelwa Tiger Reserve, in Sohagi Barwa Sanctuary and in Valmiki National Park ;

* Rajaji National Park

In 1971 election, the DMK fought in alliance with Congress ( Indira ) and the Opposition alliance which consisted of the two Senior National Leaders, Rajaji and Kamarajar was termed as a strong alliance and was widely supported by Media to re-capture power in Tamil Nadu.

There district contains Rajaji National Park which is home to several elephants.

Uttarakhand's famous animal sanctuary in Shivalik hills, the Rajaji National Park, is also near.

In the early 1930s, Rajaji emerged as one of the major leaders of the Tamil Nadu Congress.

Rajaji was the first Premier of the Madras Presidency from the Congress party.

Kamaraj, President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee backed Tanguturi Prakasam as Chief Ministerial candidate to prevent Rajaji from winning.

The rising unpopularity of his government forced K. Kamaraj to withdraw his support for Rajaji and on March 26, 1954, he resigned as President of the Madras Legislature Congress Party thereby precipitating new elections.

In his short essay " Our Democracy ", Rajaji explained the necessity for a right-wing alternative to the Congress by saying:

E. M. S. Namboodiripad, a prominent Communist Party leader, once remarked that Rajaji was the Congress leader he respected the most despite the fact he was also someone with whom he had the most differences.

Critics feel that when the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee K. Kamaraj and a majority of the provincial leaders turned against him in the 1940s, Rajaji clung on to a position of influence in regional politics through support from his colleagues at the centre.

An accomplished writer both in his mother tongue Tamil as well as English, Rajaji was the founder of the Salem Literary Society and regularly participated in its meetings.

We had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor.

Rajaji founded the Swatantra Party and was one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Rajaji was born in Thorapalli in the then Salem district of Madras Presidency and educated at Central College, Bangalore and Presidency College, Madras.

In 1930, Rajaji risked imprisonment when he led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha in response to the Dandi March.

In 1937, Rajaji was elected Premier of the Madras Presidency and served until 1940, when he resigned due to Britain's declaration of war on Germany.

In 1946, Rajaji was appointed Minister of Industry, Supply, Education and Finance in the Interim Government of India, and then as the Governor of West Bengal from 1947 to 1948, Governor-General of India from 1948 to 1950, Union Home Minister from 1951 to 1952 and as Chief Minister of Madras state from 1952 to 1954.

Rajaji was instrumental in setting up a united Anti-Congress front in Madras state under C. N. Annadurai, which swept the 1967 elections.

Rajaji was born to Chakravarti Venkatarya Iyengar, munsiff of Thorapalli Village and Singaramma on 10 December 1878 into a devout Iyengar family of Thorapalli in the Madras Presidency.

According to popular folklore, while Rajaji was a child, an astrologer told his parents that he would have the " fortunes of a king, a guru, an exile and an outcaste.

A weak and sickly child, Rajaji was a constant worry to his parents who feared that he might not live long.

As a young child, he was admitted to a village school in Thorapalli then at the age of five moved with his family to Hosur where Rajaji enrolled at Hosur Government School.

Rajaji also studied law at the Presidency College, Madras, from where he graduated in 1897.

Rajaji married Alamelu Mangamma in 1897 and the couple had four children – two sons and two daughters.

Mangamma died in 1916 whereupon Rajaji took sole responsibility for the care of his children.

In 1917, Rajaji was elected Chairman of the municipality and served from 1917 to 1919 during which time he was responsible for the election of the first Dalit member of the Salem municipality.