[Letter to N K Ganapaiah]

Summary

This 26 October 1971 letter from V. T. Sreenivasan to N. K. Ganapaiah, President of the Swatantra Party, challenges the accuracy and fairness of proceedings from the Party’s 19 September 1971 Executive Committee meeting. Sreenivasan objects that the proceedings were circulated to other former office-bearers but not to him, despite his having served as General Secretary for twelve years. He argues that remarks concerning the Party’s financial administration unfairly insult him, former Treasurer B. V. Narayana Reddy, and former senior Vice-President K. H. Srinivasan.

Key points

• Sreenivasan disputes allegations that the Swatantra Party’s accounts had gone unaudited for twelve years because the Party Constitution required accounts to be available for audit in a manner prescribed by the National Executive.
• He argues that the constitutional wording protected anonymous donors to an opposition party from exposure and did not imply financial misconduct.
• He invites the new Executive Committee to inspect the Cash Book and other records handed over by the previous General Secretary.
• He rejects claims that Party funds were diverted or invested without proper oversight, stating that the Finance Sub-Committee had authority over investments.
• He criticises the new Executive Committee for allowing what he calls unwarranted aspersions against absent former office-bearers.
• He says he and B. V. Narayana Reddy will rejoin the Party only when an Executive Committee with a proper sense of proportion and values is established.