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India's leftists accuse Swatantra of be ing "feudal'' and "socially backward" because it is supported by a clutch of princes and princesses, most notable of whom is the beauteous Maharani of Jaipur, who is Swatantra Party boss in Rajasthan (TIME, Nov. 10). Ignored is the fact that there are more princes and zamindars (feudal landlords) in Congress than in the Swatantra. Despite the cry that Swatantra is the "millionaires' party," C.R. has been generally unsuccessful in attracting financial support from India's richest corporations. Right-wing businessmen instead contribute generously to Congress, for obvious reasons: they depend on the government for the permits and licenses without which their businesses cannot function or expand. One industrialist, J.R.D. Tata, head of the huge Tata iron and steel combine, has had the courage to give one-third of his campaign contribution to the Swatantra, the rest to Congress. Says Party Leader Rajagopalachari of the license system he detests: "We got rid of the British raj. Now we have a permit raj."
"Go to Hell." All five major parties are involved in Krishna Menon's re-election fight in North Bombay. In an unlikely coalition, the Swatantra, Jana Sangh, and Praja Socialist parties are backing Jiwatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, 74, a lean, acerbic former Congress Party president who fell out with Nehru, formed the Praja Socialists in 1951, is now an independent. To combat this alliance, Bombay's Communist Party has put its organization at the disposal of Congress Candidate Menon: Menon's defeat—or even a narrow victory—would be the most dramatic repudiation of Nehru's aggressive socialism and left-leaning neutralism since India's independence. A smashing Menon victory would seriously dishearten Indian conservatives and measurably strengthen the pro-Communist left.
The campaign has been hot. In an attack on Menon, Kripalani said: "I charge him with wasting the money of a poor starving nation. I charge him with the neglect of the defense of the country against the aggression of Communist China. I charge him with having lent his support to totalitarian regimes against the will of the people." Kripalani supporters have circulated a pamphlet titled "Krishna Menon—Danger to India" that calls Menon a "crypto-Communist."
Kripalani scoffs at Menon's and Nehru's pretensions about India's vital role in advancing world peace. An old Gandhian, Kripalani declares that the Mahatma was wary of Menon and suspicious of his influence on Nehru. Says Kripalani: "Menon's defeat will change the course of Nehru's Cabinet and en courage the best men in it to make a stand against Jawaharlal."
With his personal prestige at stake, Nehru has campaigned vigorously for Menon. When local Congress leaders in North Bombay tried to dump Menon as a candidate, Nehru personally had the revolt squashed. Shortly thereafter, 26 Bombay Youth Congress workers resigned from the party, protesting that because of Menon's "pro-Communism, the future of the country is not safe." Nehru was infuriated, shouted in a speech before 200,000 people in North Bombay that the youth workers could "go to hell."