[Letter from SV Raju]

Summary

In this letter dated October 6, 1977, S. V. Raju criticises a sponsored programme on the life of C. Rajagopalachari for presenting Rajaji’s political career as effectively ending in 1948 and for highlighting only his post–Governor-General mission to the United States. Raju argues that the programme omitted two major activities: Rajagopalachari’s assumption of the chief ministership of the old Madras State during a period of serious communist trouble, and his founding of the Swatantra Party.

Raju stresses the political importance of the Swatantra Party, noting that it became the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha in 1967 and a major coalition partner in the Orissa government from 1967 to 1971. Because the programme was sponsored by a public institution that had supported Rajaji, he asks how the organisers propose to make amends, rejecting lack of time or lateness as sufficient explanations.

Key points

• Raju objects to a programme’s incomplete account of C. Rajagopalachari’s life and political career.
• He says the programme wrongly implied that Rajagopalachari’s political career ended in 1948.
• He identifies Rajagopalachari’s service as Chief Minister of the old Madras State as a major omission.
• He highlights Rajagopalachari’s founding of the Swatantra Party as another major omission.
• He records the Swatantra Party’s electoral and coalition significance between 1967 and 1971.
• He holds a publicly sponsored institution to a higher standard of completeness and accountability.
• He asks the organisers to consider how they will remedy the omission.