How a Brahmin woman was elected the Mayor of Madras on DMK ticket in 1971
For the first time in its 76-year-old history, the DMK recently appointed V. Maitreyan, a Brahmin, to an organisational post. The former Rajya Sabha Member joined the party in August after having been associated with the BJP and the AIADMK. This development in a party, which fought for the uplift of the backward classes and the oppressed and politically opposed “Brahmin hegemony”, has surprised many. In later years, its leaders argued the party was only against ‘Brahminism’ and not Brahmins. Mr. Maitreyan’s appointment as the vice-president of the party educators’ wing has turned the spotlight on an event that took place 54 years ago: the election of a Brahmin woman, Kamakshi Jayaraman, as the Mayor of the Madras Corporation on DMK ticket.
Congress (O) candidate trounced
Kamakshi’s husband Jayaraman was a DMK member. He was elected councillor of Kothawalchavadi (Division 19). His death caused a by-election. On October 21, 1971, Kamakshi, who was fielded by the DMK, won from Kothawalchavadi, defeating P. R. Rangabashyam of the Congress (O). She polled 2,707 votes as opposed to Rangabashyam’s 2,310 votes.
Along with her, R.V. Ramalingam of the Congress (O) was elected from Purasawalkam (Division 60), where too a by-election was conducted following the death of councillor Appadurai. Ramalingam defeated his nearest Congress (R) rival S.R.T. Mani by 857 votes in a field of six candidates. Thus, the DMK and the Congress (O) had retained their seats in the two wards respectively.
“With the conclusion of the byelection for the two seats, there is no change in the existing party position in the Council which is as follows: Total: 120 members. DMK 54; Congress (O) 46; Muslim League 7; Congress (R) 6; Swatantra 3; [and] C.P.I., C.P.I. (M), Tamil Arasu Kazhagam, and Toilers Party, one each. There are also six co-opted Harijan members in the Council,” a report in The Hindu said. In the mayoral election held on November 29, 1971, an indirect contest with councillors casting their votes, Kamakshi secured 74 votes as opposed to the 47 votes polled by her nearest rival C.R. Narasimhan of the Swatantra Party. She thus became the second woman Mayor of Madras, the first being Tara Cherian, who held the post during 1957-58. She also became the first Brahmin woman to don the mayoral robes in Madras.
But how did the DMK field a Brahmin for Mayor? The answer lies in the communal rotation system that was in place for the post at that time. “According to the convention governing the Mayoral election, it is the turn of a Brahmin Councillor to be elected as Mayor for the next term. Since Mrs. Kamakshi Jayaraman is the only Brahmin Councillor in the DMK Municipal Party, she is likely to be the nominee of her party for the Mayorship,” The Hindu reported immediately after her victory in the Kothawalchavadi by-election.
Hailing from Thiruvidaimaruthur in Thanjavur district, she had studied up Standard 9. In 1962, she married Jayaraman. “In 1968, he was elected to the Corporation and was the only Brahmin member of the DMK Municipal Party. He was aspiring to become the Mayor but died prematurely,” according to a report. It is his slot that Kamakshi eventually filled.
Jan Sangh’s protest
Incidentally, on the morning of the election, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh’s Madras unit staged a demonstration in front of the Ripon Buildings, the Corporation headquarters, against the convention governing the election of Mayor on “communal rotation”.
Soon after the results were declared, Kamakshi was led to the chair by V. Munuswami, the DMK Municipal Party leader. Sa. Ganesan, the outgoing Mayor, handed over the mayoral robes to her. She then conducted the election of the Deputy Mayor.
N.V.N. Somasundaram, also of the DMK, was elected the Deputy Mayor. He defeated M. Bhaktavatsalam of the Congress (O) by 32 votes. Somasundaram, an advocate and labour leader and better known as N.V.N. Somu, later became the Union Minister of State for Defence. He died in harness in an Army helicopter crash in Arunachal Pradesh in November 1997. At the time of his election as the Deputy Mayor, he represented the Kondiyampathi Division in the Corporation Council.
Five women co-opted
The same day, five women members were co-opted on to the Corporation Council in accordance with an amended Madras Municipalities Act. The women members were Alamelu Appadurai, Kuppammal, Rajambal, Savithri Sabapathi, and Sargunam. The amended Act provided for co-option of six members in case there were no elected women representatives in the Council. At that time, the Mayor was the only elected member of the Council, and hence the five women were co-opted for a term of five years.
Postscript: A few days after her election, the new Mayor told journalists that “beautification of the city” would be her main objective. Decades later, when M.K. Stalin was directly elected Mayor in 1996, he too placed the thrust on “beautification” on the lines of Singapore, branding the campaign as ‘Singara Chennai’. Now, during Mr. Stalin’s tenure as the Chief Minister, the same has been rephrased as ‘Singara Chennai 2.0’. Has Chennai been transformed into Singapore yet? It remains a work-in-progress.
Published – November 21, 2025 05:30 am IST
