Remembering Dewan N Madhava Rau, a quiet maker of the Republic

As India marks Republic Day, it is worth recalling a distinguished person from Karnataka, Dr N Madhava Rau, a member of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly from the erstwhile state of Mysore.

He has been written about or celebrated, but not nearly enough. A quiet, reserved, and erudite person who went about his work without flourish as the penultimate Dewan of Mysore, Madhava Rau remains insufficiently known in the state. He and Benegal Rao were the only two members from Mysore state on the Drafting Committee, yet even archival research in Vidhan Sabha yields little about him. He neither courted media attention nor believed in public relations. 

He was a highly regarded political scientist and an accomplished lawyer. Madhava Rau was democratic in his thinking and reformist in intent. Towering figures such as Sir M Visvesvaraya and Sir Mirza Ismail recognised his abilities and supported and recommended him to Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar for the office of Dewan of Mysore. 

He rose through the ranks, serving
as Director and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Bhadravati Ironworks during its critical days. He transformed it from a white elephant into a profitable venture – one example of his administrative competence. Unfortunately, Madhava Rau assumed office in troubled times. He succeeded Sir Mirza Ismail on June 1, 1941, having earlier served on the Dewans’ Council.

Born in Machilipatnam in present-day Andhra Pradesh, N Madhava Rau studied at Noble College and later at Pachaiyappa’s College in Madras (now Chennai). He studied law at Madras Government College before entering the Mysore Civil Services in 1907, topping the competitive examination. At every stage, merit marked his progress. 

He also did well in the ‘efficiency audit brand’, earning the confidence of the Mysore Administration. The years 1942-43, however, were dominated by the Quit India Movement and widespread unrest across the country, including Mysuru. With loyalties divided, the Dewan had
to stay the revolt and bring back law and order. As the author par excellence D V Gundappa (DVG) observed, Dewan Madhava Rau became a victim of circumstance, despite being an honest man and an able administrator. 

Some decisions taken in the interests of law and order gave the impression of proximity to the monarchy rather than alignment with the Congress. The Second World War further complicated matters. The establishment of the aircraft factory in Bengaluru, while it served the British Air Force adequately, compelled him
to negotiate a fraught terrain – between State interests and imperial power, between governance and politics. Later, as HAL, the factory became a source of pride for the country. 

Yet his record of public service remains substantial. He promoted cooperatives, advanced sericulture, and initiated projects for women’s welfare and maternal healthcare. His ideas on education for both men and women were started and continue to flourish even today. During acute shortages of food grains, sugar, firewood and kerosene oil, ration shops were opened, and even steam-powered buses operated. These measures, though sometimes criticised, reflected administrative resolve in a period of severe constraint. 

Madhava Rau’s concern for Mysuru’s people extended beyond the State. He participated in the Round Table Conferences with Sir Mirza Ismail in London and later served as erstwhile Mysore’s Trade Commissioner there. He chaired several prize committees and remained engaged with public life and ideas. 

His contributions were formally recognised. The British Government awarded him the Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (CIE), while the Maharaja conferred on him the title Pradhan Shiromani (crest jewel among the Pradhans). He also received an honorary doctorate from Mysore University. 

An avid reader, he maintained a wood-panelled library in the outhouse of his home, ‘Himalaya’, housing biographies, classics, and books autographed by Kuvempu, DVG, and other luminaries. When he sought ‘light reading’, it meant H G Wells. He also wished to learn Sanskrit so he could understand the Vedas and Indian philosophy.

Tall and imposing, he carried himself with quiet dignity – sometimes in traditional court attire with a peta, at other times in a well-cut suit and felt hat. His portraits hang today in the Vidhan Sabha Banquet Hall in Bengaluru and in Mysuru’s Jaganmohan Palace. 

Asked why the Constitution needed to be so long, he replied that it had to be inclusive—capable of accommodating citizens from every walk of Indian society. Critiqued today, this was a radical vision at the time. Having travelled widely and studied their vision and documents,
N Madhava Rau, along with his colleagues, helped shape a rational, inclusive, and thoughtful document, firmly rooted in its historical moment.  

On a personal note, he was a keen golfer, winning a tournament at the age of 75, and served as captain of the Bangalore Golf Club. He was also a founding member of the Century Club, Bengaluru. Sociable yet reticent, more involved in sports and ideas rather than social display, he was a bundle of contradictions. It took Kodanda
Rao, president of the Servants of India Society, and this writer to get people to socialise over tea. 

A renaissance man, a democrat, and loyal to both people and nation, Madhava Rau was frequently sought out for counsel by people across political divides. True to his name – Nyapathi, meaning just-- he deserves to be remembered on Republic Day and applauded as a true citizen of Karnataka, a constitutional thinker and a public servant who believed in India’s democratic promise.  

(The writer, the granddaughter of Madhava Rau, is a political analyst and former faculty, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi)