P. S. Nataraja Pillai

P. S. Nataraja Pillai (March, 1891 - 1966) was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and the Member of parliament during the 3rd Lok Sabha elections held in 1962. He served as the Adviser to Travancore Government at Delhi in 1948 and finance minister of the Travancore-Cochin state from 1954 - 1955.

Life and background

P. S. Nataraja was born in Alappuzha district of Kerala, on March, 1891. He was originally elected for the member of parliament independently in 1962 and later, He established his political associations with Congress, Indian Socialist Party and Praja Socialist Party.

Before the Indendance of the India, He was the member of the Travancore Constitution Reforms Committee in 1946. During his career spanning, PS was the member of Travancore Manigam Karam Committee from 1952 - 1953, Unemployment Committee in 1956, Reforms Committee (Kerala) from 1958 - 1959. Besides remaining the member in the Government led committees, it was 1960 when Nataraja was appointed as the Chairman of High Level Sales Tax Enquiry Committee for the period of 1 year.

In 1948, 1 year after the independence, PS was elected as the member of Constituent Assembly till 1950 and later, He served in Travancore-Cochin's Legislative Assembly member from 1951 — 1957. In 1962, Nataraja contested the parliamentary elections from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency (also known as "Trivandrum") and was elected as the member of parliament.

Personal life

PS was married to "Komalam" and they were blessed with seven daughters and three sons. Nataraja was the son of an Indian scholar "Manonmaniam P. Sundaram Pillai, known professionally as Professor Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai who was an educator in a collage situated in Kerala.

Controversies

In 2017, the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan was claimed to have made objectionable remarks on P. S. Nataraja Pillai. The CM later unacknowledged the remarks citing that he never meant to demean a particular person but only some Pillai families. The CM clarified the controversies citing that He even doesn't remember Nataraja's name. The opposition party Indian National Congress demanded the resignation of the Karala CM over his remarks which landed him in a wide controversy.