[Letter to N Dandeker]

Summary

This four-page Swatantra Party (Mysore State) letter, dated 18 April 1968 and signed by General Secretary V. T. Sreenivasan, addresses N. Dandekar on the selection of candidates for indirect elections to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council. Sreenivasan rejects State President K. B. Jinaraja Hegde’s suggestion that the State Parliamentary Board and State Executive should surrender responsibility for candidate selection and allow party legislators to vote freely. He argues that the Swatantra Party’s commitment to individual liberty does not exclude party discipline in matters governed by party principles.

The letter criticises the Congress practice of issuing voting “whips,” while warning that the Swatantra Party cannot build a credible governing alternative if its legislators are treated as irreconcilable. Sreenivasan refers to the Kashinath episode as evidence of public concern about the party’s discipline, but argues against responding by making legislators sign advance undertakings. In the accompanying correspondence, Rajaji defends the freedom of legislators who have been elected to represent the party and cautions that rigid control could weaken the party’s organisation. The letter proposes that future Assembly candidates sign a written undertaking to follow party directions in Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections, while leaving the final decision to the State Executive.

Key points

• Sreenivasan opposes transferring candidate-selection responsibility from the State Parliamentary Board and State Executive to legislators acting individually.
• The letter distinguishes individual liberty within the party from freedom to disregard party principles or agreed electoral decisions.
• It criticises Congress-style voting whips while arguing that some degree of party discipline is necessary for an effective political organisation.
• The Kashinath episode is presented as having damaged public confidence in the Swatantra Party’s disciplinary standards.
• Sreenivasan rejects advance pledges as a response to allegedly incorrigible legislators and instead proposes a narrower written undertaking for future candidates.
• The proposed undertaking would require elected Assembly members to follow party directions in Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections.
• The final decision is left to the State Executive after it considers the views of its majority.