Purushottam Das Tandon

Purushottam Das Tandon (born August 1, 1882, Allahabad, India—died July 1, 1962) was an Indian politician who was a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress in its early years. He was an enthusiastic campaigner for the use of Hindi as India’s national language.

Tandon graduated from Muir Central College, Allahabad, in 1904 with a law degree and an M.A. in history. He began a legal career in 1906 and joined the High Court of Allahabad in 1908 under eminent jurist and statesman Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. Tandon was briefly law minister of Nabha state, in Punjab, from 1914 to 1918.

In 1918 Tandon organized the Allahabad District Peasants’ Committee in an attempt to improve the working conditions of farmers. He used his ability to organize kisan sabhas (Hindi: “farmer assemblies”) to garner support for the Indian independence movement. A member of the Congress Party from 1899, Tandon represented Allahabad at the 1906 All India Congress Committee session, and in 1921 he gave up his law practice to concentrate on politics. He was arrested for participation in the noncooperation movement in 1921 and in the Salt March in 1930.

On a personal level, Tandon was closely affiliated with the esoteric religious sect Radha Soami Satsang but was ideologically opposed to any overt religious propagation or conversion. His devotion to the concept of ahimsa (noninjury of living things) manifested itself in a renunciation of personal leather articles, particularly his sandals.

Tandon’s later political career involved stints at numerous levels of Indian government. He served as speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (1937–50) and was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted India’s constitution. Tandon was elected to the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) in 1952 and to the Rajya Sabha (upper house) in 1956. That same year he retired from active politics. In 1961 he was honoured with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, for his exceptional contribution to public affairs.