[Letter to C Rajagopalachari]

Summary

This single-page personal letter, dated May 9, 1964, was sent by Jawaharlal Nehru from the Prime Minister’s House in New Delhi to C. Rajagopalachari (“Rajaji”). Nehru responds to Rajagopalachari’s letter of May 8 concerning the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Key points

• Nehru says that changing the 19th Amendment would be difficult at this stage.
• He notes that the amendment had already been fully discussed in Parliament.
• He considers it unlikely that the amendment would fail for lack of adequate votes.
• He explains that many Lok Sabha members were absent because they were otherwise engaged.
• He attributes the voting difficulty partly to the bell not ringing properly.
• He rejects Rajagopalachari’s fears about the amendment as unjustified.