[Letter to Raja]

Summary

This is a single-page typed letter dated 19 January 1963, sent on the letterhead of Prof. N. G. Ranga, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), from 44 Western Court, New Delhi, to C. Rajagopalachari (“My dear Rajaji”) at Kalki, Kilpauk, Madras City. Ranga thanks Rajaji for the advance copy of an editorial and endorses its conclusions, reporting that the Organiser has taken a similarly strong line and that he understands the Hindustan Times and the Indian Express hold the same opinion.

The substance is a piece of Opposition tactics on the Colombo proposals — the six-nation peace formula floated in the aftermath of the 1962 Sino-Indian border war. Ranga expects the Prime Minister to brief Opposition leaders on the details the following morning, and hopes his own meeting of the democratic Opposition will fall in behind him — but insists that “even if we are alone we would oppose the proposals.” He reports that some friends are urging that a walk-out be staged just before the vote, in order to dissociate the Opposition from what he calls a “dishonourable and humiliating proposal of the Government,” and says he is inclined to agree. He will raise the walk-out plan at the meeting of Opposition leaders and their own Members on 21st January, and asks Rajaji to wire back if he does not agree. He closes by noting that Minoo Masani has cancelled his Delhi trip and is now expected only on the 26th.

Key points

• Correspondence from N. G. Ranga, MP (Lok Sabha), to C. Rajagopalachari, dated 19 January 1963, from 44 Western Court, New Delhi.
• Ranga endorses Rajaji’s editorial line rejecting the Colombo proposals, the post-1962 Sino-Indian War peace formula.
• He reports that the Organiser has taken a similarly strong line and that the Hindustan Times and Indian Express are believed to share the position.
• He anticipates the Prime Minister will brief Opposition leaders on the details of the Colombo proposals at an 11 A.M. meeting the following day.
• He floats a tactic urged by “some of our friends”: staging a walk-out just before the vote to dissociate the Opposition from what he calls a “dishonourable and humiliating proposal of the Government.”
• He commits to raising the walk-out plan with the Opposition leaders and their own Party Members at a meeting on 21st January, and asks Rajaji to wire back if he disagrees.
• He notes that Minoo Masani has cancelled his Delhi trip and is now expected only on the 26th.