Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the General Council of the Swatantra Party held on November 15 and 16, at the Vithalbhai Patel Bhavan, New Delhi

Summary

These draft minutes record Swatantra Party organisational proceedings across two related meetings. The opening page refers to a National Executive meeting held on 27 December at Hali Buildings, while the subsequent pages document the General Council meeting held on 15–16 November 1969 at Vithalbhai Patel Bhavan, New Delhi. The record lists participants from multiple regions, confirms earlier minutes, notes tributes to deceased party members, and records discussion of the party’s structure and administration.

Key points

• The General Council confirmed the minutes of its 4 October 1969 meeting at Bhubaneswar.
• Members deferred consideration of a sub-committee report on the problems of linguistic states.
• M. R. Masani presented the National Executive’s Mid-Term Report, which the Council adopted after discussion and amendments.
• The Council appointed a committee to examine and recommend modifications to the party’s agricultural resolution.
• Resolutions were unanimously adopted on preventive detention, communal disturbances in Ahmedabad, violence in West Bengal, the death of Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman, and natural calamities.
• The minutes record apologies and tributes concerning the health or deaths of senior party figures, including N. Dandekar and Sardar Ram Singh.
• The opening page recommends a party structure consisting of five vice-presidents, up to five joint secretaries, two joint treasurers, and twenty executive members.