Minutes of the meeting of the National Executive committee of the Swatantra party held on April 17, 1977 at Woodlands Hotel, Mylapore, Madras-4

Summary

This is the official record of a Swatantra Party National Executive meeting held on 17 April 1977 at Woodlands Hotel, Mylapore, Madras, circulated on 28 April 1977 from the party’s National Headquarters on Flowers Road, Madras. Convened in the immediate aftermath of the Emergency and the Congress rout in the March 1977 general elections, the meeting was chaired by G. K. Sundaram and attended by seven members and seven special invitees. Its central question was whether the Swatantra Party — which had declined to dissolve at its August 1974 Convention when the Bharatiya Lok Dal was formed — should now merge with the newly-victorious Janata Party.

After noting the party’s cool response to the Janata leadership and the uneven cooperation Swatantra workers had extended to Janata candidates, the Executive weighed two options: outright merger, or conversion of the party into a ‘Rajaji Trust’ under clause 12(d)(i) of the Constitution to carry on political education. Sumtilal P. Shah of Pune argued against merger on ideological grounds, warning that Janata leaders were ‘more socialistic than Congress leaders’ and that the party would be dominated by Sri Jagjivan Ram (rendered ‘Jan Singh’ in the typescript). K. H. Subramaniam of Bombay endorsed merger despite reservations. The Executive passed five unanimous resolutions: condolence for Fakruddin Ali Ahmed; a birth-centenary programme for Rajaji culminating in December 1978; formation of the Rajaji Trust with a nine-member committee empowered to draft the Trust Deed; immediate merger with the Janata Party; and congratulations to the people of India for defeating the Congress, with highest respects to Jayaprakash Narayan and prayers for the success of Morarji Desai’s government.

Appended to the minutes is a 25 April 1977 circular from Joint Secretary V. S. Srikumar advising Swatantra workers who wish to remain politically active to enrol individually with the Janata Party in large groups through Congress(O) district offices from 1 May 1977, so that Rajaji’s pragmatic views may continue to be pressed inside the new formation. A final page carries the postal envelope addressed by hand to Sri M. R. Masani at 148 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bombay 23, postmarked June 1977 — the copy of the minutes preserved by Minoo Masani himself.

Key points

• The meeting formally wound up the Swatantra Party as an independent political entity by resolving to merge immediately with the Janata Party in April 1977.
• The Executive simultaneously created a ‘Rajaji Trust’ under clause 12(d)(i) of the party constitution to carry on the ‘real task’ of political education, appointing a nine-member committee to prepare the Trust Deed.
• A dissenting view from Sumtilal P. Shah warned that Janata leaders were ‘more socialistic than Congress leaders’ and that ideological differences between Swatantra and Janata were vital.
• The Executive framed the March 1977 election result as a popular victory over dictatorship, singling out Jayaprakash Narayan’s leadership and offering prayers for Morarji Desai’s new government.
• A committee was constituted to organise Rajaji’s birth centenary in December 1978 as a nationwide moral-and-political education programme, treating him as an ‘elder Statesman’ whose values must be revived.
• Resolution 1 mourned Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, the outgoing President of India, with a two-minute silence and formal condolences to Begum Habida Ahmed.
• A follow-up circular of 25 April 1977 from Joint Secretary V. S. Srikumar instructed Swatantra workers to enrol with the Janata Party from 1 May 1977 through Congress(O) district offices, or otherwise ‘simply file this letter’.
• The archived copy was mailed from Madras to Minoo Masani at 148 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bombay 23, indicating the internal circulation of the merger decision to founding Swatantra leaders.