Swatantra Newsletter

Summary

Issue No. 74 of the Swatantra Newsletter (June–July 1970) is a party bulletin issued by the National Headquarters of the Swatantra Party, Bombay. It opens by announcing a national Fundamental Rights Front, chaired by former Chief Justice K. Subba Rao, that will run alongside the Party’s own machinery to defend the rights guaranteed by Chapter III of the Constitution against what the leadership sees as an accelerating assault by Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s Government. The lead editorial columns then reprint statements by Rajaji and party President Minoo Masani on Cambodia, endorsing the American intervention as a legitimate part of a long-term defence of non-communist Asia against a Peking-directed Communist push, and reading New Delhi’s criticism of the intervention as objective support for Mao.

The middle of the number is dominated by two campaigns. The first is Anti-Naxalite Day (24 May 1970), reported unit by unit from Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Mysore, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Orissa, Kerala, Pondicherry, Rajasthan and elsewhere; resolutions everywhere denounce Naxalite violence, allege Chinese and CPI(M) collusion, and call on the Centre to restore law and order. The second is a sustained attack on the record of Russian-aided public sector undertakings — Bokaro Steel, MAMC, HEC, Surgical Instruments Madras, the Bakayan mining project, IDPL Rishikesh — where MPs led by Piloo Mody and Prakash Vir Shastri document cost overruns, idle capacity, and disproportionately paid Soviet technicians drawing more than the President of India. Interwoven are reports on the Save Democracy Convention at Patna, a joint MPs’ letter opposing Rs 2 lakhs of public expenditure on Lenin centenary celebrations, and a communication to President V. V. Giri urging that the Privy Purses (Constitution Amendment) Bill be referred to the Supreme Court before enactment.

A long “Focus on Orissa” section reports the Party’s Third Annual State Convention at Rourkela (3–4 May 1970), including Masani’s address praising the Swatantra–Jana Congress coalition under Chief Minister R. N. Singh Deo and setting out four national priorities — clean administration, restoration of law and order, hard work with increased production, and a pragmatic approach to problems. “Nursing the Constituency” then publishes long personal reports from Swatantra MPs J. M. Lobo Prabhu (Udipi), N. K. Somani (Nagaur), Piloo Mody (Godhra) and Y. Gadilingana Goud (Kurnool), each cataloguing bridge, irrigation, employment and famine-relief work in their seats. State units add further reports on communal riots in Bhiwandi (Bombay), a new Kisan Sena in Bihar, Kashmir civil liberties, and conventions in Kerala and Rajasthan.

The number closes with General Secretary R. E. Cooper’s signed “Is This Socialism?” column, which uses tabulated figures from Mr. Dandeker’s Finance Bill speech to argue that a Union Cabinet Minister’s post-tax package (Rs 70,924 per year) is roughly 848 times the per-capita income of an Indian, and an Annexure setting out the organisational plan, functions and model petition of the Fundamental Rights Front announced on page one.

Key points

• Launches a national Fundamental Rights Front under former Chief Justice K. Subba Rao, non-partisan but co-ordinated through Swatantra’s Bombay HQ, to defend Chapter III rights against the Central Government.
• Reprints Rajaji’s and Masani’s endorsement of the US intervention in Cambodia as necessary to a long-term defence of non-communist Asia, and attacks the Indira Gandhi Government for objectively aiding Mao’s ambitions.
• Reports unit-by-unit observance of Anti-Naxalite Day on 24 May 1970 across at least fifteen state units, with resolutions alleging Chinese and CPI(M) support for Naxalite violence and demanding a firm central response.
• Documents heavy losses at Russian-assisted public sector projects (Bokaro Steel, MAMC, HEC Ranchi, Bakayan mining, IDPL Rishikesh) and objects to Soviet technicians drawing per-capita emoluments higher than the President of India.
• Records MPs’ opposition to Rs 2 lakhs of public money for Lenin centenary events and a letter to President V. V. Giri urging that the Privy Purses (Constitution Amendment) Bill be tested by the Supreme Court before enactment.
• Reports the Third Annual Orissa State Convention at Rourkela and prints Masani’s four-point national programme — clean administration, law and order, hard work with increased production, and pragmatism.
• Publishes constituency-work diaries by MPs J. M. Lobo Prabhu, N. K. Somani, Piloo Mody and Y. Gadilingana Goud, detailing bridge, irrigation, famine-relief and Panchayat interventions in their seats.
• Prints General Secretary R. E. Cooper’s tabulated argument that a Union Cabinet Minister’s tax-free salary and perquisites of Rs 70,924 per annum are roughly 848 times the average Indian’s income, framing this as evidence that Congress socialism is a ‘Big Lie’.