[Letter to C Rajagopalachari]

Summary

In this letter dated 3 April 1968, Minoo Masani responds to C. Rajagopalachari’s views on dissent and voting within the Swatantra Party. Masani rejects the idea that freedom of opinion on matters outside the party’s fundamental principles should entail freedom to vote against the party’s own candidates. He invokes alleged misconduct surrounding the cases of Acharya Kripalani in Uttar Pradesh and Babubhai Vaidya in Gujarat, questions the consistency of the party’s disciplinary standards, and asks whether Rajagopalachari was wrong to raise a moral issue over the election of the Speaker in Madras.

Key points

• Masani expresses disappointment and disquiet about arguments attributed to Rajagopalachari.
• He distinguishes freedom of opinion from voting against the Swatantra Party in elections.
• He raises allegations of money being supplied to a senior Gujarat office-bearer who opposed the party’s decision.
• He questions the fairness and consistency of expulsions and disciplinary action within the party.
• Masani denies that his withdrawal from party leadership was caused by ‘nursing fatigue’.
• He describes other responsibilities, including a railway-accidents committee and the Leslie Sawhny Programme of Training for Democracy.
• He says he will support party candidates but will not resume responsibility for running the party until its leadership takes energetic steps toward clean and disciplined functioning.
• He refers positively to Rajagopalachari’s Budget speech and mentions an impending speech on the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and foreign policy.