Kumaraswami Kamaraj, better known as K. Kamaraj (July 15, 1903-October 2, 1975) was an Indian politician widely known as a kingmaker in Indian politics, and remembered for his honesty, integrity and simplicity.

     He was involved in the Indian independence movement and was a close ally of Jawaharlal Nehru. He was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966. He was affectionatly known as the Gandhi of the South, the Black Gandhi, and in Tamil Nadu, his home state he is still hailed for facilitating the spread of education to millions of the rural poor during the 1950s.

     Kamraj was born on July 15, 1903, to Kumarasamy and Sivakami Ammal at Virudhunagar near Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His real name was Kamakshi Kumaraswamy Nadar, but was affectionately shortened to Raja by his mother. Kamaraj was enrolled at the local elementary school, the Nayanar Vidyalaya, but was later shifted to the high school Kshatriya Vidyalaya. Unfortunately his father died within a year of Kamaraj's enrollment in school. Kamaraj's mother sold all jewelry except her earrings and deposited the money with a local merchant and cared for the entire family on the monthly interest that the money earned. Kamaraj dropped out of school when he was in the sixth grade.

     At the age of 16, Kamaraj enrolled himself as full-time worker of the Congress. He also participated in the march to Vedaranyam led by C. Rajagopalachari as part of the Salt Satyagraha of March 1930. Kamaraj was arrested and sent to Alipore Jail in Calcutta for two years. He was 27 at the time of his arrest and was released in 1931 following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Kamaraj was implicated in the Virudhunagar bomb case two years later. Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu and George Joseph argued on Kamaraj's behalf and proved the charges to be baseless. Kamaraj was arrested again in 1940 and sent to Vellore Central Prison while he was on his way to Wardha to get Gandhiji's approval for a list of satyagrahis. While still in jail, Kamaraj was elected Chairman of the Municipal Council of Madurai. Nine months later, upon his release, Kamaraj went straight to the Municipality and tendered his resignation from his post. He felt that "one should not accept any post to which one could not do full justice." Kamaraj was arrested once more in 1942 and sentenced to three years in the Amaravathi prison for spreading propaganda material for the Quit India movement initiated by Gandhiji.

     Kamaraj's political guru and inspiration was S. Satyamurti. So deep was Kamaraj's devotion to Satyamurti that when India gained independence, he first went to Satyamurti's house and hoisted the Indian flag there. On his election as Chief Minister, Kamaraj went to Satyamurti's house and garlanded his photo and paid his respects to the leader's widow.

     On April 13, 1954, K. Kamaraj reluctantly became the Chief Minister of Madras Province. Kamaraj removed the family vocation based Kula Kalvi Thittam(Hereditary Education Policy) introduced by Rajaji.He reopened the 6000 schools closed by Rajaji for financial reasons and also added 12000 more schools.

     The State made immense strides in education and trade during his tenure. New schools were opened, where poor rural students were to walk no more than 3 miles to their nearest school. Better facilities were added to existing ones. No village remained without a primary school and no panchayat without a high school. Kamaraj strove to eradicate illiteracy by introducing free and compulsory education upto the eleventh standard. He introduced the Mid-day meals Scheme to provide at least one meal per day to the lakhs of poor children. He introduced free school uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among young minds.

     Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for three consecutive terms. On October 2, 1963, he resigned, at Nehru's request, to serve a greater purpose. He came up with a plan which was called the "Kamaraj Plan". He proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign form their posts and devote all their energy to the re-vitalization of the Congress. A number of Central and State ministers like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jagjivan Ram, Morarji Desai and S.K. Patil followed suit and resigned from their posts.

     In 1964, Kamaraj was elected Congress President and he successfully navigated the party and the nation through the stormy years following Nehru's death. On October 2, 1975, Gandhi Jayanti day Kamaraj died in his sleep. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976.