Report to the Central Organising Committee on their Visit to Bihar

Summary

This two-page report by M. R. Masani and Dahyabhai Patel records their visit to Patna from the afternoon of the 19th to noon on the 20th. The authors describe an unexpectedly large welcome from Swatantra Party members, representation from twelve of Bihar’s seventeen districts at an informal meeting, difficulty meeting state legislators, and a favourable response from the press, including The Indian Nation and Searchlight. They note that several legislators nevertheless expressed interest in the party, and that Sardar Harihar Singh, N. N. Singh Deo, and Jagdhatri Sahdeo were in contact with them.

The report’s recommendations focus on rebuilding the party’s Bihar organisation. It proposes an immediately opened Central Office branch in Patna until the end of 1964, regular visits by M. R. Masani or another Central Office representative, the appointment of field workers, and an advisory committee of Bihar colleagues. It also recommends procedures for validating former workers’ enrolment and subscription payments, and advises that MPs, MLAs, and MLCs who have not formally resigned should remain members while withdrawing any signatures obtained through false representations or coercion. The report is concerned chiefly with party administration and organisational consolidation; no formal publication date, publisher, or issuing body is visible.

Key points

• The authors visited Patna from noon on the 19th until noon on the 20th.
• Party members from twelve of Bihar’s seventeen districts attended an informal meeting at Ram Binod Singh’s residence.
• The authors were unable to meet most state legislators, although some had expressed interest in meeting them.
• The report recommends opening a temporary Central Office branch in Patna until the end of 1964.
• It proposes regular Central Office visits, the appointment of field workers, and a Bihar advisory committee.
• It sets out procedures for screening former workers and regularising their party membership.
• It recommends retaining MPs, MLAs, and MLCs as members unless they formally resign, while repudiating signatures obtained through coercion or false representation.