Finding An Identity

Summary

The article assesses Minoo Masani’s post-election admission of responsibility for the Swatantra Party’s poor performance, treating it as either an exemplary gesture or an effort to explain failures he had previously warned against. It notes that Masani opposed the party’s alliance without a common minimum programme and had argued that such a strategy would be politically indefensible and electorally damaging.

The article’s central concern is the Swatantra Party’s unresolved political identity. It asks whether the party should adopt a forward-looking, aggressively modern conservatism associated with Edward Heath, or develop a more specifically Indian position. The party is described as having acquired an identity problem because it is often regarded as representing feudal and moneyed interests, although the article says this characterization is not wholly applicable outside parts of Andhra and Tamil Nadu. The 1971 election results are presented as confirming this difficulty, while the article suggests that a natural democratic alternative to the Congress (O) could eventually emerge on the right, despite setbacks in the election.

Key points

• Minoo Masani’s admission of responsibility for the Swatantra Party’s electoral performance is presented as politically significant.
• Masani had warned against an alliance lacking a common minimum programme and later found himself overruled by his party.
• The Swatantra Party is portrayed as facing an unresolved question about its political identity and social base.
• The article contrasts an aggressively modern conservatism associated with Edward Heath with the need for an Indian political formulation.
• Election results in Andhra and Tamil Nadu are said to have reinforced the party’s image as representing feudal and moneyed interests.
• The piece argues that the setbacks of the election may postpone, but will not necessarily prevent, the eventual emergence of a democratic alternative to Congress (O) on the right.