Opinion January 28, 1977, Forty Years Ago

The Chief Election Commissioner, T. Swaminathan, said that the president will issue a notification on February 10, calling upon all constituencies to elect their representatives for the next Lok Sabha.

Dharia Joins Janata

The four constituents of the Janata Party — Old Congress, Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Lok Dal and Socialist Party — will not undertake separate public activity. The national committee of this party decided this in view of the impending merger of the four political parties and their unification to contest the Lok Sabha election. These will function on behalf of the Janata Party. Instructions have been issued to state and district workers, Janata Party general secretary, L.K. Advani, said. Mohan Dharia, former Union minister, has joined the Janata Party and agreed to contest from Pune City constituency, the statement added. The party alleged that Jayaprakash Narayan’s house is still “encircled” by police and intelligence men.

Plea For Detenues

Janata Party leaders sought a meeting with the prime minister to secure her intervention for the immediate release of 10,000 odd political workers still in detention. Scores are probable candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.

CPI On Indira

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would never become anti-communist, CPI General Secretary C. Rajeswara Rao declared at a press conference in Delhi. He said the anti-CPI forces in the Congress had not in the least become more dominant since the last Lok Sabha election in 1971. The CPI’s policies towards the government continued to be one of supporting its progressive policies and opposing everything which was anti-democratic or which otherwise harmed the interests of the working people and the nation, he said.