Omandur Ramasamy Reddiar (1895 – 1970) was an Indian freedom-fighter and politician of the Indian National Congress. He served as the Premier of Madras Presidency from March 23, 1947 to April 6, 1949.

Early life

Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiyar was born in 1895 in the village of Omandur

Omandur

Omandur or Ommandur is a village in Tindivanam taluk of Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu.Another village with similar name but called ஓமாந்தூர் in Manachanallur taluk of Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu.- Demographics :...

 near Tindivanam

Tindivanam

Tindivanam is a town and a municipality in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Important roads from north to south Tamil Nadu pass through Tindivanam and similarly from west to east.-History:Tindivanam is a Selection grade Municipal Town...

 in the then South Arcot

South Arcot

South Arcot is a former district of India, located in the state of Tamil Nadu.South Arcot was the southern portion of the Mughal province of Arcot. Arcot came under the control of a local Nawab after Mughals lost control southern India in the 18th century...

 district of Madras Presidency. He belonged to a Telugu Reddy

Reddy

Reddy is a social group or caste of India, predominantly inhabiting Andhra Pradesh. They are enlisted as a forward caste by the government. Traditionally, they are a high-caste community of nobility, warriors and cultivators. According to academics, they were a warrior caste in the remote past and...

 family domiciled in the Tamil country. He had his schooling at Walter Scudder school and entered the Indian independence movement at an early age.

Ramaswamy Reddiar was a devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi , born Venkataraman Iyer, was a Hindu spiritual master . He was born to a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu. After experiencing at age 16 what he later described as liberation , he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus...

.

As Chief Minister

Ramaswamy Reddiyar became the Chief Minister or Premier of Madras on March 23, 1947 and was in power till April 6, 1949. During his tenure, the Madras Temple Entry Authorization Act 1947 was passed. This act was intended to give Dalits and other prohibited Hindus full and complete rights to enter Hindu temples. This was approved by the Governor on May 11, 1947 and passed as Madras Act 5 of 1947. The Devadasi Dedication Abolition Act of 1947 put an end to the devadasi

Devadasi

In Hinduism, the devadasi tradition is a religious tradition in which girls are "married" and dedicated to a deity or to a temple and includes performance aspects such as those that take place in the temple as well as in the courtly and mujuvani [telegu] or home context. Dance and music were...

 system that was in vogue in many Hindu temples.

It was during Reddiyar's tenure that India achieved independence from the United Kingdom. Soon after independence and partition of India, there was a shortage of food grains, especially rice, in the province. In 1948, Reddiyar ordered the purchase of a de Havilland Dove

De Havilland Dove

The de Havilland DH.104 Dove was a British monoplane short-haul airliner from de Havilland, the successor to the biplane de Havilland Dragon Rapide and was one of Britain's most successful post-war civil designs...

, the first aeroplane to be owned by the Government of Madras.

In 1948, when the Congress legislative party elections were held, Reddiyar's candidature was opposed by Tanguturi Prakasam

Tanguturi Prakasam

Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu was an Indian politician and Freedom Fighter and the first Chief Minister of the Indian province Andhra state...

. However, Reddiyar won with the support of K. Kamaraj

K. Kamaraj

Kumarasami Kamaraj better known as K. Kamaraj was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975...

. However, the Congress leaders were disgruntled with Reddiyar as he did not allow them special privileges. So, during the 1949 Congress Legislative Party elections, Kamaraj supported P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja against Reddiyar. Though Reddiyar was supported by C. Rajagopalachari

C. Rajagopalachari

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari , informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, independence activist, politician, writer and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India...

, P. Subbarayan

P. Subbarayan

Paramasiva Subbarayan was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and diplomat and was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, India's ambassador to Indonesia and Union Minister of Transport and Communications in Jawaharlal Nehru's government. He is the father of General P. P...

 and T. Prakasam, he lost the vote and stepped down as Chief Minister.

Minister	Portfolio
O. P. Ramaswami Reddiar	Chief Minister, Public, Hindu religious endowments and Harijan uplift
M. Bhaktavatsalam	Public works and Planning
P. Subbarayan P. Subbarayan Paramasiva Subbarayan was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and diplomat and was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, India's ambassador to Indonesia and Union Minister of Transport and Communications in Jawaharlal Nehru's government. He is the father of General P. P...	Home and Legal (Law and Order)
T. S. S. Rajan T. S. S. Rajan Tiruvengimalai Sesha Sundara Rajan was an Indian doctor, politician and freedom-fighter who served the Minister of Public Health and Religious Endowments in the Madras Presidency from 1937 to 1939....	Food, Motor transport and Labour
T. S. Avinashilingam Chettiar	Education
Daniel Thomas	Prohibition, Excise, Registration and Housing
Vemula Kurmayya	Harijan uplift, Fisheries and Rural development
H. Sitarama Reddi	Industries and Information
K. Chandramouli	Local administration and Co-operative
K. Madhava Menon	Agriculture and Forest
Kala Venkata Rao Kala Venkata Rao Kala Venkata Rao was freedom fighter, politician in Andhra Pradesh, India. He was former Vice-President and General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee .-Birth:...	Revenue
A. B. Shetty A. B. Shetty Attavar Balakrishna Shetty better known as A. B. Shetty was an Indian politician, philanthropist, entrepreneur and the founder of Vijaya Bank.- Biography :...	Public health
S. Gurubatham	Khadi, Firka development and Cottage industries

Changes
Subbarayan resigned on 5 April 1948, Daniel Thomas on 15 June 1948 and Kala Venkata Rao on 24 January 1949.

Later years

When his Premiership of Madras Presidency came to an end in April 1949, Reddiyar was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India

Constituent Assembly of India

The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to write the Constitution of India, and following independence served as the nation's first Parliament.-Nature of the Assembly:...

. The complex of buildings

Tamil Nadu legislative assembly-secretariat complex

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and Secretariat Complex also known as the Omandurar Government Estate is a complex of buildings constructed at Government estate grounds off Anna Salai in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The complex is named after O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar...

 that houses the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has been named after him.