Srinivasa Iyengar was the son-in-law of renowned lawyer and first Indian Advocate-general of Madras, Sir Vembaukum Bhashyam Aiyangar.

He resigned his Advocate-General post, his seat in the Governor's executive council and returned his C. I. E. in 1920 in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and joined the Indian National Congress.

However, in 1923, he broke away along with other leaders as Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das due to differences with Mahatma Gandhi over participating in elections.

K. Kamaraj, who later became the president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and served as the chief minister of Madras from 1954 to 1962, is believed to be his greatest find.

[11] In recognition of his services, Srinivasa Iyengar was appointed Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the 1920 New Year Honours.

He attended the historically significant 1907 session of the Indian National Congress held at Surat which is remembered for the split between the moderates and the extremists.

[14] In 1908, V. Krishnaswamy Iyer introduced him to Rash Behari Bose "as the son-in-law of Sir V. Bhashyam Aiyangar and in some ways greater than him".

[14] In 1920, Srinivasa Iyengar resigned as the Advocate-General of Madras and from the Governor's executive council protesting the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre.

In 1927, Iyengar chaired the reception committee of the 29th session of the Indian National Congress which met in Madras.

When the Congress split in 1923 between the Gandhians and those in support of Council entry, Srinivasa Iyengar was in the non-Gandhian camp and founded the Madras Province Swarajya Party.

The Madras Province Swarajya Party contested in the elections to the provincial legislature held between 11 September 1923 and 10 November 1923.

[19] The dissidents were led by C. R. Reddy, a leader of the Justice Party,[18][19][20] who complained of the dictatorial rule of the Raja[21] and his insensitive, unimaginative policies.

[22] Backed by Srinivasa Iyengar and the Swarajists, Reddy introduced a no-confidence motion against the government of the Raja of Panagal on 27 November 1923.

[24] As a result, the Governor set up an independent government under P. Subbarayan and nominated 34 members to the assembly to support it.

[25][26] Because Subbarayan's regime was appointed and largely controlled by the Governor, it became the target of strong criticism both from the Justicites as well as the Swarajists.

[27] In March 1927, P. Munuswamy Naidu of the Justice Party passed a motion recommending salary cuts for Government ministers.

[29] Fearing the possibility of the formation of a Swarajya Party-Justice Party coalition Government, the Governor stepped in to foster discord amongst the opposition.

[29] Led by the Raja of Panagal, the Justice Party switched sides and lent its support to the Subbarayan government.

[31] See Also: Simon Commission In the Congress session held at Nagpur in November 1927, decision was made to draw up a "Labour Constitution of the future Government of India".

[33] On 30 August 1928, Jawaharlal Nehru, Srinivasa Iyengar and Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Indian Independence League.

[33] This league declared purna swaraj or complete independence from British rule as its ultimate goal and not dominion status.

Srinivasa Iyengar was elected President of the Congress Democratic Party with Subhas Chandra Bose as its Secretary.

[34] Srinivasa Iyengar briefly returned to politics in 1938 and supported Subhas Chandra Bose as president of the Congress.

[38] He served as the founder and director of the Industrial Development Commission of Madras state and founded the Prithvi Insurance company.

[3] Iyengar was the personal lawyer and a family friend of Muthuramalingam Thevar whom he encouraged to participate in the 1927 Congress session that was held in Madras.

[46] However, Srinivasa Iyengar who presided over the session refused to permit it reasoning that it would cause unnecessary communal tension.