He became a close associate of Mohandas Gandhi and was imprisoned on several occasions for non-cooperation with the British. Himself a Hindu, he was tolerant of the right of Indian Muslims to demand special minority safeguards and of the creation of the separate state of Pakistan. He served as Governor-General of India (1948–50) and Chief Minister of the Madras government (1952–54). In 1959 he was one of the founders of the conservative Swatantra Party.