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Swatantra Party
Swatantra Party

Swatantra Party was founded in the year 1959 by leaders opposing the socialistic policies of the Congress government. Some of the prominent leaders of the time including C Rajagopalachari, Minoo Masani and N G Ranga collaborated to form a liberal-conservative party. The party stood for market-based economy and the dismantling of the license raj.

In its first party convention held in Bombay on 1st August 1959, several regional parties and erstwhile Kings and Princes including the Maharajas of Jaipur and Patiala joined the alliance to form a strong liberal front opposing the socialist and communist political ideology then dominating Indian political discourse.

Other distinguished members of Swatantra included Dayabhai Patel the son of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, businessmen like Homi Mody, A D Shroff and experienced members of the civil service like H M Patel, Narayan Dandekar and J M Lobo Prabhu. N G Ranga went on to become the first party president while, Minoo Masani was elected as the secretary of the party.

The Swatantra Party contested its first general election in the year 1962 and won 25 seats in the third Lok Sabha of 1962- 1967. It also won a total of 207 seats in various other state assembly elections and went on to form a main opposition to Congress in four states including Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Orissa. The next general election of 1967 made Swatantra party the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha with a total of 44 seats. Unfortunately, the rise of the party came to a halt after it managed to obtain just 8 seats in the next general elections of the year 1971.

After Rajaji’s death in 1972, the party lost its momentum. In 1974, the Swatantra Party joined six other opposition parties to form the Bharatiya Lok Dal.

Statement of Principles of The Swatantra Party, Aug 2, 1959

Statement of Principles of The Swatantra Party included principles that the party aimed to live by. These were adopted at a Preparatory Convention held at Bombay on August l and 2, 1959. These principles included a pledge to Social Justice and equality of opportunity for all people without distinction of religion, caste, occupation, or political…

Sixth National Convention: Swatantra Souvenir, 1973

The Swatantra Souvenir was published by the Swatantra Party in 1973, after the death of C Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) in 1972. The Souvenir recaptures the troubled mind and voice of Rajaji, which in the last fifteen years of his life was one of pain and anguish at the way things were going on in India. The…

Congress Misrule and the Swatantra Alternatives, 1966

The Congress Misrule and the Swatantra Alternative was written by Swatantra Party MP, M.R. Masani and published in 1966. The book is a compilation of MR Masani’s speeches that shed light on the Swatantra Party’s stance and their goal of providing the people with a better government than the ruling party, at the time, was…

Devaluation: The Guilty Men

Swatantra Party was founded in the year 1959 by leaders opposing the socialistic policies of the Congress government. Some of the prominent leaders of the time including C Rajagopalachari, Minoo Masani and N G Ranga collaborated to form a liberal and conservative party. The party stood for market-based economy and the dismantling of the license…

For God’s Sake, Go

Swatantra Party was founded in the year 1959 by leaders opposing the socialistic policies of the Congress government. Some of the prominent leaders of the time including C Rajagopalachari, Minoo Masani and N G Ranga collaborated to form a liberal and conservative party. The party stood for market-based economy and the dismantling of the license…

Foreign Capital? Yes! Govt-to-Govt Loans? No!

The pamphlet ‘Foreign Capital? Yes! Govt-to-Govt Loans? No!’ was published by the Swatantra Party. The first half of the pamphlet covers Minoo Masani’s speech on May 3,1996 during the discussion on the Finance Bill, in which he elaborates upon the resolution he had tabled, which failed to be discussed due to a paucity of time….

Manifesto for the State Assembly Re-election, 1974

The State Assembly Re-election Manifesto was published by the Swatantra Party in the year 1974. The manifesto aimed at a revolutionary and progressive change in the economic, social and political regimentation done by the Congress Party. The manifesto was centred around the belief that social, moral and economic development in Uttar Pradesh could be brought…

Garibi Hatao: The Swatantra Way

Published by the Swatantra Party, Garibi Hatao: The Swatantra Way is a short essay written by Manubhai Amersey that sheds light on the failures of Indira Gandhi’s Garibi Hatao movement by looking at the different facets of poverty in India. The author spells out the Swatantra Way of addressing the question of poverty, which is…

Swatantra Party Election Manifesto, 1967

Swatantra Party Election Manifesto, 1967 did not only bring to the fore ineffective governance by the Congress in the previous decades, but also laid emphasis on “A New Government with a New Policy.” This new government with a new policy is what the Manifesto claimed to establish if the Swatantra Party won. The manifesto focused…

Swatantra Alternative to Third Plan

Published by the Swatantra Party in 1963, the Swatantra Alternative to the Third Plan is a pamphlet comprising of MR Masani and Professor NG Ranga’s Lok Sabha’s speeches during the course of discussion on the mid-term appraisal of the Third Plan in the Parliament on December 5, 1963. In addition to the speeches, the pamphlet…

Fundamental Rights

Fundamental Rights: Our Fight Against Tyranny is a Swatantra Party publication that covered a 1967 speech delivered by MP Sriraj Meghrajji in the Parliament. The speech followed a 1967 Supreme Court judgement (I.C. Golaknath and others vs State of Punjab) that declared that it was not within the powers of the Parliament to abridge or…

From Darkness to Light

Published by the Swatantra Party in the early 1970s, From Darkness to Light is a comic book that lays emphasis on the woes of Indian farmers and related agriculture practices and processes. The comic adopts the nature of a manifesto as the party lays down their proposed policies and ideas to work for the prosperity…

Lawless Legislation

Edited by A.P. Jain and published by the Swatantra Party in 1963, Lawless Legislation is a compilation of speeches and articles by members of the Swatantra Party that shed light on why the party opposed the 17th amendment to the Constitution. The Seventeenth Amendment is to act as an authorization charter for applying zamindari laws…

The Relevance of Rajaji’s Economic Thinking Today

M.R. Pai, Vice-President, Forum of Free Enterprise, Bombay inaugurated the first Rajaji Memorial Lecture on 5th December 1983 by talking on the subject of the Relevance of Rajaji’s Economic Thinking Today. Pai spoke about how freedom and democracy are essential for growth and development of a nation. Rajaji’s far-sighted economic policies and ideologies based on…

Why Swatantra

Published by the Swatantra Party, Why Swatantra is a conjoined effort of C Rajagopalachari, NG Ranga, Minoo Masani and KM Munshi as they analyse with incisive logic the need for a new party and explain with great clarity the party’s fundamental philosophy and programmes. Why Swantantra? They answer: to save freedom, to preserve the family…

Social and Religious Decay

The Social and Religious Decay was written by C. Rajagopalachari. It begins by explaining how one must have an innate desire to improve and help others. Any policy sabotaging these “social urges” is harmful. Emphasizing the role of free will, Rajagopalachari evaluates Congress’ policies as forceful, harming voluntary social cooperation existing in human nature. He…

What the Swatantra Party Stands For

In this essay, MR Masani evaluates the merit of Swatantra Party’s ideas and discusses the Party’s agenda in the February 1976 elections, listing qualifications for being a stronger candidate than Congress. Drawing inspiration from the Bible, Lincoln, and Gandhi, the Swatantra Party believed in limited government and trusting the conscience of the citizens. Just like…

End to Appeasement

In End to Appeasement, MR Masani expresses his displeasure at Nehru’s foreign policies on the issue surrounding Chinese aggression. He questions if India truly follows its non-alignment policy. He vociferates through the essay his disapproval for Nehru’s tactics of avoiding conflicts, suppressing facts from the Parliament, and failing to raise border issues. He mentions how…

Real Land Reforms

Authored by NK Ganapaiah, Real Land Reforms talks about the need to produce new wealth for India’s prosperity by expanding agriculture. He proposes the modernization of agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture, fisheries, forestry, piggery, and poultry to solve national poverty and unemployment. He highlights land burden, fragmentation of holdings, unsound policies on the same, and underutilization…

Democracy in India

Written in the late 1950s, Democracy in India is Atulananda Chakrabarti’s attempt at redefining democracy. It covers two articles, “Role of Universities” and “Democracy for New India- Give Us the Definition.” In the former, he talks about universities as the central figures in shaping people’s ideas and thoughts. He says that a government’s way of…

To Prosperity through Freedom (V. R. 1960)

The following musing is an excerpt from ‘To Prosperity through Freedom’, published in journal Incorporating the ‘Free Economic Review’ and ‘The Indian Rationalist’ Vol. 8 No. 5. The piece written by V. R. discusses and contextualizes Swatantra Party’s Philosophy and Policy which was declared at Patna on 19 and 20 March 1960.  Like Luther at…