The CRC was led by C. Rajagopalachari, who had been defeated by Kamaraj in the inner-party disputes over leadership of the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
CRC was formed just one month before the 1957 elections to the Lok Sabha and the Madras state legislative assembly.
This was done to counter the bid of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (which had 16 seats) to hold the post of leader of opposition.
On 28–29 September 1957 CRC held a state conference and reconstituted itself as the Indian National Democratic Congress.
Albeit representing virtually opposite positions on the left-right scale, the cooperation between the Forward Bloc and the Swatantra Party continued in the state.