General Secretary's Report on Party Organisation

Summary

N. Dandekar’s report assesses the Swatantra Party’s performance in the 1967 general elections against targets adopted by the General Council in 1965. The party helped bring Congress close to defeat in the Lok Sabha and increased its parliamentary strength from 22 to 44 seats, but fell short of becoming the Official Opposition. At the state level, it helped form a Swatantra-led coalition government in Orissa, expanded substantially in Gujarat without displacing Congress, and increased its representation in Rajasthan, Madras, and Mysore. Andhra became the party’s strongest example of achieving a principal-opposition role.

The report attributes the disappointing result to poor candidate selection, failed or weak electoral understandings, inadequate state-level management, the diversion of senior leaders into candidacies, and the absence of a disciplined worker cadre and youth wing. It calls for a detailed post-election investigation, while noting that many candidates lost their security deposits—86 of 175 Lok Sabha candidates and 367 of 973 State Assembly candidates. Its second section reviews the party’s internal elections: membership rose from 25,852 in July 1964 to 47,151 in June 1967, new leadership entered many state units, and rank-and-file participation increased, but several states remained unorganised and the party constitution and rules required revision. The report is dated November 21, 1967 and signed by Dandekar.

Key points

• The 1967 election targets were to weaken Congress in the Lok Sabha, establish Swatantra-led governments in selected states, and become the principal opposition in some state legislatures.
• Swatantra doubled its Lok Sabha representation from 22 to 44 seats but did not secure the nine additional seats needed for official-opposition status.
• The party formed a Swatantra-led coalition government in Orissa and made significant gains in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madras, Mysore, Assam, and Bengal.
• Candidate selection, last-minute nominations, weak electoral agreements, poor management, and insufficient cadres are identified as causes of the party’s poor performance.
• A large proportion of candidates forfeited their security deposits, prompting a call for closer scrutiny of candidates’ merits and prospects.
• Party membership increased from 25,852 in July 1964 to 47,151 in June 1967.
• The report records an influx of new office-bearers and greater rank-and-file participation, alongside continuing organisational weakness in several states.
• The incoming National Executive is urged to conduct a post-mortem of both Lok Sabha and State Assembly election performance and revise deficient party rules.