[Letter to C Rajagopalachari]

Summary

This 24 January 1964 personal letter from M. R. Masani to C. Rajagopalachari discusses Rajagopalachari’s proposed scheme for amending the Swatantra Party constitution. Masani observes that the scheme would require constitutional amendments and could be presented to the General Council as a substitute motion to the Central Organising Committee’s recommendation. He prefers first attempting to secure the Committee’s scheme, treating the alternative as a last resort, and encloses three documents.

The enclosures comprise draft alternate amendments and the Swatantra Party’s constitution, adopted at its National Convention in Patna on 19–20 March 1960. The constitutional material defines membership, subscriptions, primary and district units, state or regional councils, the General Council, the National Executive, co-option, terms of office, conventions, rule-making, amendments, and transitional arrangements. The draft amendments lower the membership age from 21 to 18, specify work activities qualifying applicants for membership, revise subscription levels and membership administration, create an associate category without voting rights, reduce the threshold for forming primary-unit committees, and alter the composition and election of state and national bodies.

Key points

• Masani writes to C. Rajagopalachari on 24 January 1964 about proposed amendments to the Swatantra Party constitution.
• He says Rajagopalachari’s scheme would require constitutional amendments and could be submitted as a substitute motion to the General Council.
• Masani recommends trying to secure the Central Organising Committee’s scheme first and using the alternative only as a last resort.
• The enclosures reproduce the Swatantra Party’s constitutional framework, including membership, subscriptions, party committees, conventions, rule-making, and amendments.
• The draft amendments would make people over 18 eligible for membership if they affirm the Party’s principles, pay the fee, and express readiness to work for the Party.
• The draft lists recruitment, fundraising, party administration, literature, study circles, grievance work, and electoral candidacy among qualifying Party activities.
• The draft revises subscription provisions, creates non-voting Associates, lowers the primary-unit threshold from 250 to 20 members, and changes the organisation and election of Party bodies.