Diwan Bahadur Pattu Kesava Pillai (b. October 8, 1860 - d. March 28, 1933) was an Indian journalist, politician and activist of the Indian Independence movement.

Early life

Pattu Kesava Pillai was born in a Vellalar

Vellalar

Vellalars were, originally, an elite caste of Tamil agricultural landlords in Tamil Nadu, Kerala states in India and in neighbouring Sri Lanka; they were the nobility, aristocracy of the ancient Tamil order and had close relations with the different royal dynasties...

 family of Pattu in North Arcot

North Arcot

The Indian District of North Arcot was split on 30-09-1989 into Tiruvannamalai-Sambuvarayar and North Arcot Ambedkar .- History :...

 district on October 8, 1860. He studied in Madras and began his career as a journalist for The Hindu

The Hindu

The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

. In 1883, at the age of 22, Kesava Pillai was appointed The Hindus correspondent for Gooty

Gooty

Gooty is a census town in Anantapur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The history of Gooty dates back to the 7th century when is was previously known as Gowthamapuri. The region of Gooty was first under the rule of king Ashoka and there is a minor rock edict in Yerraguda...

. From then on, Kesava Pillai became known as "Gooty Kesava Pillai".

Public life

Kesava Pillai was elected to Gooty municipality and served as a member of the municipality. He was also eventually elected to the Madras Legislative Council as representing Municipalities.

Politics

Kesava Pillai was interested in politics from an early stage in his life. He participated in the first session of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 held at Bombay on December 28, 1885 representing the town of Gooty. At a later stage, he adopted more reactionary methods and was jailed from time to time. He was staunchly opposed to the Justice Party and the Dravidian Movement.

Madras Legislative Council

Kesava Pillai served in the Madras Legislative Council for quite a long time and is credited with having proposed a number of reforms. He was the principal architect of the Jail Commission and moved the Jail policy resolution which was passed by the government of the Raja of Panagal. He was also responsible for the creation of the Madras Forest Commission. Kesava Pillai was eventually elected Vice-President of the Madras Legislative Council and served in his capacity for some time.