{{Short description|Indian civil servant and bureaucrat (1932–2019)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = T. N. Seshan | image = T.N. Seshan in 1994.jpg | birth_place = Palghat, Malabar District, Madras Presidency, British India<br/>(present-day Kerala, India) | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|05|15|df=yes}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|11|10|1932|12|15|df=y}} | death_place = Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | birth_name = Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan | education = Madras Christian College<br/>Harvard University | spouse = {{marriage|Jayalakshmi Seshan|1959|March 2018|end=died}} | office = 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India | term_start = 12 December 1990 | term_end = 11 December 1996 | predecessor = V. S. Ramadevi | successor = M. S. Gill | office2 = 18th Cabinet Secretary of India | term_start2 = 27 March 1989 | term_end2 = 23 December 1989 | prime_minister = {{plainlist| * Chandra Shekhar * P. V. Narasimha Rao * Atal Bihari Vajpayee * H. D. Deve Gowda}} | prime_minister2 = {{plainlist| * Rajiv Gandhi * V.P. Singh}} | predecessor2 = B. G. Deshmukh | successor2 = V. C. Pande | occupation = Bureaucrat, Lecturer, Civil Servant, IAS officer, Statesman | awards = Ramon Magsaysay award (1996) | party = Indian National Congress (joined in 1999) }}
'''Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan''' (15 May 1933 – 10 November 2019) was an Indian civil servant, lecturer, bureaucrat and statesman who served with the Indian Administrative Service.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/cong-s-seshan-vs-advani/cid/916428 |title=CONG?S SESHAN VS ADVANI |work=Telegraph India|date=1999-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725034718/https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/cong-s-seshan-vs-advani/cid/916428 |archive-date=2022-07-25}}</ref> Prior to entering the civil service, he worked as a Physics lecturer at the Madras Christian College. After serving in various positions in Madras and in various ministries of the Central Government, he served as the 18th Cabinet Secretary of India in 1989. He was appointed the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India (1990–1996) and became known for his electoral reforms. He won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service in 1996. After retirement as the CEC, he contested the 1997 Indian presidential election. He lost to K.R. Narayanan<ref name=":5" /> after which he unsuccessfully contested 1999 Lok sabha election from Gandhinagar constituency under the Indian National Congress.
==Early life and education== Seshan was born<ref>{{Cite web|date=1994-06-11|title=ASIA : Film-Star Famous, Indian Reformer Is Facing a Fall : The public loves crusading election official T.N. Seshan. But his imperious ways have irked the ruling party.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-11-mn-2808-story.html|access-date=2022-01-16|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> on 15 May 1933<ref>{{cite web |last1=YT |first1=MyLaw |title="I cherish my rigid attention to integrity." |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZy_uiv5U6M |website=YouTube |publisher=YouTube |access-date=8 June 2024}}</ref> in a Tamil Brahmin family at Thirunellai Village in Palakkad, Kerala.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> He was the youngest of six siblings, and his father was a lawyer in a district court.<ref name=":4" /> He completed his schooling at the Basel Evangelical Mission School, Palakkad, and intermediate at Government Victoria College, Palakkad, where he was a contemporary of E. Sreedharan, who is popularly known as the 'Metro Man of India.'
Though Seshan and Sreedharan were selected for the Engineering degree at JNTU Kakinada, Seshan decided to join the Madras Christian College, Chennai (MCC).<ref name="Man of tomorrow">{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/man-of-tomorrow/article2954164.ece |title=Man of Tomorrow |newspaper=The Hindu |date=2 March 2012 |publisher=The Hindu Newspaper }}</ref> He then completed his Bachelor of Science (Hons.) degree in Physics from Madras Christian College and later taught there from 1950 to 1952. In 1953, he left the college and cleared the police service examination, but did not join. He then cleared the UPSC civil services examination in 1954 and joined the IAS as a trainee of the 1955 Tamil Nadu cadre.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/t-n-seshan-former-chief-election-commissioner-passes-away/articleshow/71996774.cms|title=T N Seshan, former chief election commissioner, passes away | India News |website=The Times of India|date=10 November 2019 }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tn-seshan-former-cec-who-tamed-politicians-dies-at-86/articleshow/71998323.cms|title=TN Seshan death: TN Seshan, former CEC who tamed politicians, dies at 86|date=11 November 2019|website=The Times of India|access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/culture/people/the-man-who-cleaned-up-india-s-elections-1.1326815|title=The man who cleaned up India's elections|last1=Das|first1=Sanjib Kumar|date=1 May 2014|work=Gulf News|access-date=10 August 2016}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=The 1996 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service: Biography for Tirunellai N. Seshan|url=http://www.rmaf.org.ph/index.php?task=4&year=1990 |first=Oscar L.|last= Evangelista|date=1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528164030/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographySeshanTir.htm|archive-date=2013-05-28}}</ref>
==Career== Seshan was appointed an apprentice administrator, as an assistant collector, for a year at Coimbatore, as a trainee of the Academy of Administration in Delhi. He was first appointed sub-collector in Dindigul.<ref name=":2" /> He moved to the Secretariat for Rural Development in Madras (now Chennai) and appointed director of programs and deputy secretary, where he managed a local administration programme for panchayats, from 1958 to 1962.<ref name=":2" />
In 1962, he was appointed the director of transport of Madras (now Tamil Nadu),<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> and in 1964, he was appointed collector of Madurai district. After two and a half years, he went to study at Harvard University on an Edward S. Mason Fellowship, where he earned a master's degree in public administration in 1968.<ref name=":2" /> At Harvard, he developed a connection with Subramanian Swamy who was his associate professor.<ref>{{Cite magazine|author=CHARU LATA JOSHI |date=December 15, 1994 |title=I don't hate politicians. I hate bad politics: T.N. Seshan|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19941215-i-do-not-hate-politicians.-i-hate-bad-politics-t.n.-seshan-810006-1994-12-15|access-date=2021-12-28|magazine=India Today|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Narasimhan">{{Cite news|last=Narasimhan|first=T. E.|date=2012-05-12|title=T N Seshan, the man who helped clean up India's elections|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/-the-more-you-kick-me-112051200032_1.html|access-date=2021-12-28}}</ref>
After his return in 1969, he was appointed secretary to the Atomic Energy Commission. From 1972 to 1976, he served as joint secretary at the Department of Space.<ref name=":2" /> In 1976, he returned to Tamil Nadu and was appointed the state's secretary of industries and of agriculture for a brief period. After differences with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, he resigned and moved to Delhi, where he was appointed as a member of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission and was in charge of personnel. After two years, he served as additional secretary to the Department of Space from 1980 to 1985. Later, he became secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests from 1985 to 1988. He opposed the Tehri dam and the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada River during his tenure, but was overruled. He was later appointed to the additional position of Secretary of Internal Security, a role he held until 1989. In 1988, he served as secretary of the Ministry of Defence for ten months.<ref name=":2" /> He was appointed 18th Cabinet Secretary, the senior-most position in the Indian civil service hierarchy, in 1989<ref name=":0" /> and later served as a member of Planning Commission.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
He was appointed the 10th Chief Election Commissioner and served from 12 December 1990 to 11 December 1996.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/-the-more-you-kick-me-112051200032_1.html|title=The more you kick me...|last1=Narasimhan|first1=T. E.|date=12 May 2012|work=Business Standard|access-date=9 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="india1">{{cite news|url=http://zeenews.india.com/blog/empowering-the-ec_658.html|title=Empowering the EC|last1=Srivastava|first1=Ritesh K.(The Observer)|date=5 March 2012|access-date=19 December 2014|publisher=Zee News}}</ref> According to interview given by him to Business Standard, Law Minister Subramanian Swamy played a vital role in this appointment.<ref name="Narasimhan"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=T. N. Seshan, the Unyielding Force That Cleansed India's Elections|url=https://thewire.in/government/tn-seshan-election-commissioner|access-date=2021-12-28|website=The Wire}}</ref> He became best known for his electoral reforms. He redefined the status and visibility of the Election Commission of India.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Election-Commissions-neutrality-Will-Zaidi-fit-in-Seshans-shoes/articleshow/49203627.cms|title=Election Commission's neutrality: Will Zaidi fit in Seshan's shoes?|website=The Times of India|date=3 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.barubian.net/2012/06/time-to-seshan-ec.html|title=Time to 'Seshan' the EC|last1=Anand|first1=R. K.|date=20 June 2012|work=Suara Sarawak|access-date=17 December 2014|publisher=(Baru Bian, Malaysia)|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217162634/http://www.barubian.net/2012/06/time-to-seshan-ec.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He identified more than hundred electoral malpractices and reformed the election process.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="india1" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Gilmartin|first1=David (North Carolina State Univ.)|title='One Day's Sultan': T. N. Seshan and the Reform of the Election Commission in the 1990s|url=http://freepdfs.net/one-days-sultan-indian-democracy/0c3f31a6c08d88aac50e6d4192cf481f/|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=McGirk|first1=Tim|title=India's scourge of money, muscle and ministers|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/indias-scourge-of-money-muscle-and-ministers-1307140.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/indias-scourge-of-money-muscle-and-ministers-1307140.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=17 December 2014|work=The Independent (U.K.)|date=28 April 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kaw|first1=M K|title=Seshan the Alsatian|url=http://www.gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=257&Name=SILLY%20POINT-%20perspective,%20mk%20kaw|website=GFiles-Inside the Government|access-date=11 August 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820164214/http://www.gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=257&Name=SILLY%20POINT-%20perspective,%20mk%20kaw|archive-date=20 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Shekhar|first1=G. C.|title=Autumn of Al-Seshan|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140407/jsp/nation/story_18163764.jsp#.VJGIGGdoKeI|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140407065456/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140407/jsp/nation/story_18163764.jsp#.VJGIGGdoKeI|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 April 2014|access-date=17 December 2014|work=The Telegraph (Calcutta)|date=7 April 2014}}</ref> Some of reforms he implemented include enforcement of election code of conduct, Voter IDs for all eligible voters, limit on election candidates' expenditure,<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1121201/jsp/bihar/story_16260409.jsp#.VJGD8mdoKeI|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141217190420/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1121201/jsp/bihar/story_16260409.jsp%23.VJGD8mdoKeI|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 December 2014|title=Minds unite in crisis times|last1=Verma|first1=Nalin|date=1 December 2012|work=The Telegraph (Calcutta)|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref> appointing election officials from states other than the one facing polls.<ref name="GangulyMukherji2011">{{cite book|author1=Sumit Ganguly|author2=Rahul Mukherji|title=India Since 1980|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900521860931|url-access=registration|date=1 August 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49866-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900521860931/page/179 179]|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref> He curbed several malpractices like bribing or intimidating voters, distribution of liquor during elections, use of government funds and machinery for campaigning, appealing to voters' caste or communal feelings, use of places of worship for campaigns, use of loudspeakers and high volume music without prior written permission.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19941215-cec-tn-seshan-tightens-electoral-reform-screws-to-clean-up-entire-election-process-809973-1994-12-14|title=CEC T.N. Seshan tightens electoral reform screws to clean up entire election process|date=15 December 1994|publisher=India Today Portal}}</ref>
During the 1999 Indian general elections, due to his reforms, 1488 candidates were disqualified for three years for failing to submit their expenditure accounts. It was reported that he reviewed more than 40,000 expenditure accounts and disqualified 14,000 candidates for false information. In 1992, the Election Commission canceled elections in Bihar and Punjab due to electoral issues.<ref name=":4" />
== Later life == After retirement as the CEC, he contested the 1997 Indian presidential election and lost to K.R. Narayanan.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/blogs/india/rajdeep-sardesai/will-arvind-kejriwal-succeed-where-tn-seshan-failed-11095-747251.html|title=Will Arvind Kejriwal succeed where TN Seshan failed?|last=Sardesai|first=Rajdeep|date=5 October 2012|publisher=News18|access-date=9 August 2016}}</ref> He fought on a Congress ticket against BJP'S veteran Lal Krishna Advani in 1999 from Gandhinagar and lost.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 April 2004 |title=Gandhinagar likely to witness one-sided battle |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/gandhinagar-likely-to-witness-one-sided-battle/story-kraQDXjdzpKqRZniq2AGoJ.html |access-date=24 April 2022 |work=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> He taught leadership at the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai and had briefly taught at the LBSNAA, Musoorie.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/-the-more-you-kick-me-112051200032_1.html|title=T N Seshan, the man who helped clean up India's elections|last=Narasimhan|first=T. E.|date=12 May 2012|work=Business Standard India|access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref> In 2012, the Madras High Court appointed him as an interim administrator to run the Pachaiyappa's Trust in Chennai.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2012/oct/17/seshan-to-take-care-of-pachaiyappas-trust-416059.html|title=Seshan to take care of Pachaiyappa's trust|website=The New Indian Express|date=17 October 2012 |access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref>
He died at his home in Chennai on 10 November 2019.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/former-election-commissioner-tn-seshan-dies-at-87-1617671-2019-11-10|title=Former Election Commissioner TN Seshan dies at 87|date=10 November 2019|newspaper=India Today|access-date=10 November 2019}}</ref>
== Recognition == He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service in 1996.<ref name=":2" />
== Personal life == He was married to Jayalakshmi Seshan from 1959 until her death in March 2018. He was fluent in several languages including, Malayalam, Tamil, Sanskrit, English, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati.<ref name=":2" /> He was a staunch devotee and follower of Kanchi Shankaracharya and often sought His blessings.<ref>https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/t-n-seshan-death-tn-seshan-passed-away-sheshan-died-is-tn-seshan-alive-wife-chief-election-commissioner-of-india/213174</ref>
== Bibliography ==
* 1995: ''The Degeneration of India'', Viking, {{ISBN|978-0670864508}} * 1995: ''A Heart Full of Burden'', UBS Publishers, {{ISBN|978-8174760272}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External References ==
* 1994: ''Seshan: An intimate story'', by K Govindan Kutty, [https://www.konarkpublishers.com/ Konark Publishers], {{ISBN|978-8122003918}} *Complete profile [https://supremo.nic.in/ERSheetHtml.aspx?OffIDErhtml=241&PageId=]
{{Chief Election Commissioners of India}} {{RMA winners of India}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seshan, T. N.}} Category:Indian Administrative Service officers Category:Ramon Magsaysay Award winners Category:Chief election commissioners of India Category:Madras Christian College alumni Category:2019 deaths Category:Candidates for President of India Category:1932 births Category:Politicians from Palakkad Category:Cabinet secretaries of India Category:Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:University of Madras alumni Category:20th-century Indian politicians Category:Harvard University alumni