MINUTES.

Summary

This two-page record reports the combined meeting of the Swatantra Party’s National Executive and National General Council, held in Madras on 29 November 1975 under the chairmanship of G. K. Sundaram. The opening discussion reviewed the party’s response to the Emergency, including legal challenges to censorship and the detention of political opponents, political conditions in Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, the extension of the Tamil Nadu legislature, and possible reorganisation of the party. The meeting also recorded concern about the party symbol and disagreement with proposals to work inside the Congress.

Key points

• The two national bodies agreed to meet jointly rather than separately.
• Girish Munshi reported on legal battles defending civil liberties and challenging Central censorship.
• Speakers assessed state-level political conditions and discussed rebuilding the party organisation.
• The resolutions condemned arrests and detentions during the Internal Emergency and called for the release of political detainees.
• The meeting supported cooperation among democratic opposition parties through a Janatha Front.
• It demanded elections at the scheduled time and opposed extending the Lok Sabha under the Emergency.
• Economic resolutions criticised controls, licensing, taxation and monetary measures, and called for lower excise duties, reduced bank-credit restrictions and stable fiscal policy.