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C. M. Poonacha
C. M. Poonacha
13th Governor of Odisha
	In office; 1 September 1982 – 17 August 1983
Chief Minister	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
Preceded by	Ranganath Misra (Acting)
Succeeded by	Bishambhar Nath Pande
	In office; 4 November 1980 – 24 June 1982
Chief Minister	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
Preceded by	S. K. Ray (Acting)
Succeeded by	Ranganath Misra (Acting)
	In office; 30 April 1980 – 30 September 1980
Chief Minister	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
Preceded by	B. D. Sharma
Succeeded by	S. K. Ray (Acting)
6th Governor of Madhya Pradesh
	In office; 17 August 1978 – 29 April 1980
Chief Minister	Virendra Kumar Sakhlecha; Sunder Lal Patwa
Preceded by	N. N. Wanchoo
Succeeded by	B. D. Sharma
8th Minister of Railways
	In office; 30 March 1967 – 14 February 1969
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Preceded by	S. K. Patil
Succeeded by	Ram Subhag Singh
Chief Minister of Coorg
	In office; 27 March 1952 – 31 October 1956
Chief Commissioner	Daya Singh Bedi
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	Office Abolished
Minister for Steel and Heavy Engineering
	In office; 15 February 1969 – 17 March 1971
Constituency	Mangalore
MoS for Transport, Aviation, Shipping and Tourism
	In office; January 25, 1966-March 12, 1967
Constituency	Mysore State, Rajya Sabha
MoS for Finance
	In office; 1 January 1966-24 January 1966
Constituency	Mysore State, Rajya Sabha
Minister for Home, Mysore State
	In office; 1957-1962
Constituency	Virajpet
Minister for Commerce and Industries, Mysore State
	In office; 1956-1962
Constituency	Virajpet
Minister for Finance, Coorg (Kodagu)
	In office; 1952-1956
Constituency	Berriathnad
Member of the Indian Parliament; for Mangalore
	In office; 1967–1971
Preceded by	Adhur Shanker Alva
Succeeded by	K. K. Shetty
Majority	28522
Member of the Indian Parliament; for Mysore State, Rajya Sabha
	In office; 3 April 1964-25 February 1967
Succeeded by	T. Siddalingaya
MLA in Coorg (Kodagu)
	In office; 1952 - 1957
Preceded by	Position Created
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
Constituency	Berriathnad
Majority	1179
MLA in Mysore State
	In office; 1957-1962
Preceded by	Position Created
Succeeded by	A. P. Appanna
Constituency	Virajpet
Majority	3221
Personal details
Born	Cheppudira Muthanna Poonacha; 26 September 1910; Attur, Coorg Province, British India
Died	7 August 1990 (aged 79)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Children	4, including C. P. Belliappa & Kavery Nambisan
Occupation	Freedom Fighter, Politician
Known for	Only Chief Minister of Coorg (Kodagu)

Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha was the Chief Minister of Coorg, Minister in Mysore State, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha), Union Railway Minister of India and Governor of Madhya Pradesh and Governor of Orissa.

Freedom Movement

C. M. Poonacha was a descendant of the Coorg Dewans. During the Freedom Movement he was sentenced to imprisonment twice during the Salt Satyagraha in 1932 and 1933. He was again imprisoned in 1940–41 and in 1942–44. He became a member of All-India Congress Committee in 1938. Also, in 1938 he was elected to Coorg District Board, became its president in 1941 and in 1945 he was elected to Coorg Legislative Council. From 1945 to 1951 he was leader of the Congress Legislative Party in the council. He hence became a prominent member of the Indian National Congress party in Coorg.

Politics

In 1947 Coorg was a separate state in South India until 1956. The other states of South India at that time were Bombay Presidency, Madras Presidency, Mysore kingdom, Travancore kingdom, Cochin kingdom and Hyderabad kingdom. The Coorg State Assembly had a strength of 24 members and the Cabinet consisted of just two members.

Constituent Assembly Member (Constitution of India)

C. M. Poonacha represented the Coorg state as a member of the Constituent Assembly.^[1]

Chief Minister (Coorg)

Two parties fought the 1952 state elections: the Takkadi ('Scales of Justice') party under veteran Gandhian Pandyanda Belliappa, who was a dominant political force and voice of Coorg with its anti-merger plank, and the Congress under C.M. Poonacha in Coorg. Poonacha was elected Chief Minister of Coorg State (1952–56) in the first general elections. Coorg had two MPs in the Union Parliament then, besides having a state legislative body.^[2] In 1956 the State Reorganisation Act was passed. Coorg was merged with Mysore and the legislative body at Mercara dissolved. While the Chief Minister was C.M. Poonacha, (who also held the finance portfolio), the only other Minister was Home Minister, Kittur Mallappa. C.M. Poonacha had won the Beriathnad seat while K. Mallappa won the second seat from Sanivarasante.^[3] The Congress won 15 seats and Independents (opposing merger), represented by the Takkadi party, won nine seats. Under various circumstances Coorg was merged with the then Mysore in 1956.^[4]^[5]^[6]

State Minister (Mysore)

After the formation of the new Mysore State Poonacha was Minister for Home and Industries under its Chief Minister S. Nijalingappa. He was also chairman, State Trading Corporation of India from 1959 to 1963. He led the Government of India Trade delegation to some East European countries in 1960 and was the leader of the State Trading Corporation delegation to Japan in 1961.

Central Minister

Poonacha was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1964. Later Poonacha was made Union Minister without portfolio in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. From 1 to 24 January 1966, he was Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and from 25 January 1966 to 12 March 1967 Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport, Aviation, Shipping and Tourism. He contested and won the Lok Sabha seat for the Mangalore constituency in 1969. He contested again in 1971 as a candidate of NCO party, but lost.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Union Railway Minister

After some time he became Union Minister for Railways from 1967 to 1969 (at first interim and then final) and Minister for Steel and Heavy Engineering in 1969. At that time he was the Member of Parliament representing Mangalore Lok Sabha constituency to which Coorg then belonged.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Retirement

Governor

After his retirement from active politics, he served two terms as governor, once as Governor of Madhya Pradesh taking charge on 17 August 1978 and later as Governor of Orissa on 30 April 1980.

Family

Poonacha has two sons and two daughters. Two of his children, C. P. Belliappa and Kavery Nambisan, are well-known writers in English.

References

^ Prasad, Rajendra (1984). Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Correspondence and Select Documents: Volume Seventeen ... - Google Books. Allied Publishers. ISBN 9788170230021. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ [1] Archived 22 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
^ "From a princely State to two Assembly segments - KARNATAKA". The Hindu. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ "Kodagu fighting to maintain its existence - ANDHRA PRADESH". The Hindu. 20 April 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ "Coorg and the reorganisation of States - NATIONAL". The Hindu. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ Harish Ramaswamy (2007). Karnataka Government and Politics. Concept Publishing Company. p. 383. ISBN 9788180693977. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
^ "Kodagu goes to LS polls with Mysore for first time - KARNATAKA". The Hindu. 12 April 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ Janak Raj Jai (1996). Commissions and Omissions by Indian Prime Ministers, Volume 1. Regency Publications. p. 115. ISBN 9788186030233. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
^ Kuldeep Mathur, James Warner Bjorkman (1994). Top Policy Makers in India: Cabinet Ministers and Their Civil Service Advisors. Concept Publishing Company. p. 84. ISBN 9788170225300. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
^ "[IRFCA] Railway Ministers". Irfca.org. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
^ http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/Previous%20Budget%20Speeches/1967-68_interim.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
^ http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/Previous%20Budget%20Speeches/1968-69.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

Biodata of Cheppudi Muthana Poonacha (see page 6)

External links

Preceded by N. N. Wanchu	Governor of Madhya Pradesh 17 August 1978 - 29 April 1980	Succeeded by B. D. Sharma

Preceded by Bhagwat Dayal Sharma (first term); Justice S.K. Ray (second term) R.N. Mishra (third term)	Governor of Odisha Apr 1980– Sep 1980 (first term); Nov 1980 – Jun 1982 (second term); Sep 1982 – Aug 1983 (third term)	Succeeded by Justice S.K. Ray (first term); R. N. Mishra (second term) Bishambhar Nath Pande(third term)