[Letter to C Rajagopalachari]

Summary

In this letter dated 8 January 1962, M. R. Masani asks C. Rajagopalachari to approve draft minutes concerning the Swatantra Party’s Bihar jeep-credit arrangements. Masani stresses that a record of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee’s proceedings is needed to protect the Party’s interests in any later controversy. He also encloses press clippings on company donations, recommends reproducing an Indian Express report in Swarajya, and asks Rajagopalachari to indicate the dates of his planned Bombay visit.

The enclosures document the Sub-Committee’s attempt to resolve the financial and logistical consequences of a Central Bank of India loan used to purchase jeeps for Party candidates in Bihar. The committee reduces the payment to Bihar to Rs. 3,75,000, leaves Rs. 1,50,000 for repayment of the bank loan, and conditions that repayment on the delivery of fifteen jeeps to endorsed candidates. The draft agreement requires candidates to maintain the vehicles during the campaign and return them afterward; the papers also record the Raja of Ramgarh’s association with the pledge and his abstention on the relevant resolution. The rendered pages include the complete seven-page letter and its enclosures, but no separately printed title is visible.

Key points

• Masani seeks Rajagopalachari’s approval of draft minutes before their release, anticipating possible later controversy.
• The correspondence concerns a Bihar jeep-credit issue involving the Swatantra Party, the Raja of Ramgarh, and the Central Bank of India.
• The Party’s Bihar allocation is reduced from the amount originally discussed to Rs. 3,75,000.
• The committee records Rs. 1,50,000 as available for repayment of the Central Bank loan.
• Repayment is tied to the delivery of fifteen jeeps to the Party’s endorsed candidates by January 1962.
• The proposed candidate agreement requires the jeeps to be kept in working order and returned after the election campaign.
• Masani also discusses press coverage of company donations and Rajagopalachari’s prospective visit to Bombay.