No, ‘Periyar’ did not leave Congress in 1925

It was the issue of non-Brahmin representation in public employment and legislative bodies that finally forced EVR to consider leaving the organization. | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives

It is widely believed and recorded by several scholars that one of the prominent non-Brahmin leaders, EV Ramasamy (EVR), known as “Periyar’ among his admirers and followers he left the Congress in November 1925 at the famous Kancheepuram Conference. (At that time, his surname – Naicker – was mentioned in all the reports that the Hind brought about him). But contrary to this popular version, EVR did not leave Congress for at least another six or seven months, according to a perusal of reports published by this newspaper in the 1920s. The Hindu also reported on EVR’s protest at the meeting, the incident of which was captured even on the shoulder of the “MR. EV RAMASWAMI NAICKER EXITS” report titled “TAMIL NADU CONFERENCE” published on 23 November 1925.

Even Eugene F. Irschick, a US historian who specialized in the origin and early phase of the non-Brahmin or Dravidian movement, in his 1969 work – Politics and Social Conflict in South India – stated (pp. 272-273) that ‘Periyar’ left the Congress “by the end of 1925”. However, when his next work – Tamil Revival in the 1930s – was published 17 years later, the veteran historian changed the year of “Periyar’s” departure to 1927 (page 90).

Published – 11 Nov 2026 07:04 IST