[citation needed] During his youth, Muthuramalingam Thevar was aided by Kuzhanthaisami Pillai, a close family friend of his father.

First he was given a private tuition and in June 1917 he began attending classes at an elementary school run by the American missionaries in Kamuthi.

The following year he also missed his chance to attend the final examinations, as he had returned to Pasumpon to fight a legal battle over issues of inheritance on family property.

The Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) had been enacted in 1920 by the government of the Madras Presidency and was subsequently implemented in a piecemeal fashion.

Thevar mobilised resistance to it, touring villages in the affected areas and leading protest rallies for the rights of the individuals registered under it.

[citation needed] In 1934, Thevar organised a convention at Abhiramam, which urged the authorities to repeal the CTA.

[6] Infuriated by the attitude of the Justice Party government towards the CTA, Thevar concluded that the communities affected by the Act had to be mobilised by the Congress.

He contested the election to the Ramnad District Board from the Mudukulathur constituency, defeating his Justice Party opponent.

[citation needed] When the Congress Socialist Party began to mobilise in the Madras Presidency in 1936, Thevar joined their ranks.

[7] Ahead of the 1937 elections to the assembly of the Madras Presidency, Thevar enlisted youths from the Mukkulathor communities to work for the Congress.

His activities created worries for the Justice Party government, which forbade him to travel outside of the Ramnad district and to make speeches in public.

[citation needed] In February 1937, Thevar contested the assembly election himself, as a Congress candidate in the Ramanathapuram constituency.

Thevar had high hopes that the new Congress ministry would revoke the Criminal Tribes Act but the new Chief minister, C. Rajagopalachari, did not do so.

During a prolonged strike of the Pasumalai Mahalaskshmi Mill Workers' Union, demanding the reinstatement of a section of fired trade unionists, Thevar was jailed for seven months from 15 October 1938.

[9] Thevar attended the 52nd annual session of the Indian National Congress, held in Tripuri in March 1939.

He then launched the Forward Bloc on 22 June, calling for the unification of all left-wing elements into a united organisation within the Congress.

Thevar, who was disillusioned by the official Congress leadership which had not revoked the CTA, joined the Forward Bloc.

When Bose visited the state immediately after the formation of the Forward Bloc in 1939, it was Thevar who played the key role in arranging a rousing reception in Madurai on 6 September.

[14] Thevar supported this reform and on 8 July 1939 he helped the activist A. Vaidyanatha Iyer take Dalits to Meenakshi Temple in Madurai.

[16][17][18] On 8 July 1939, Vaidyanatha Iyer entered the Meenakshi temple at Madurai with the company of L. N. Gopalasamy and six of his Dalit friends, P. Kakkan, Muruganandam, Chinniah, Purnalingam and Muthu.

[17][19][20] The growing popularity in Thevar as a leader of elements opposing the official Congress leadership in Tamil Nadu troubled the Congress-led government.

[citation needed] In February 1948, the Congress expelled all dissenting fractions, including the Forward Bloc, which became an independent opposition party.

Thevar became its president of its Tamil Nadu state unit,[23] a position he would hold for the rest of his life.

[26] After the election, he decided to vacate his Lok Sabha seat and concentrate his efforts to the Madras legislative assembly.

[citation needed] A new dynamic in the efforts to build a non-Congress front had emerged in the Madras State (which had been reorganised in 1956).

The situation in the area was tense on the day that the results were released, and there was a sizeable presence of police forces in place.

Clashes between Maravars, who largely supported the Forward Bloc, and pro-Congress Pallars began in a few villages soon after the election result was acknowledged.

[31][better source needed] Thevar travelled to Delhi on 17 July to attend the session of the Lok Sabha.

[citation needed] After being released from prison Thevar began mobilising for the Madurai municipal elections, held in March 1959.

An alliance of the Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India, Indian National Democratic Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was formed.