From my recent piece on GKSundaram (1914-2009), a tall classical liberal leader in Swatantra Party in Tamil Nadu:
"Rajaji had high regard for Sundaram’s leadership skills and abilities; thus, he was nominated as Swatantra Party Member to the Rajya Sabha and served from 1968 to 1974. As a member of Rajya Sabha, he actively participated in debates and contributed to the house from the perspectives of liberal principles. Sundaram’s speeches on deliberations on the Delhi Motor Vehicles Act, Gold Control Act, Nationalisation of Banks, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, The Essential Commodities Act, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Bill, etc. were noteworthy and made the government rethink its ill-conceived policies.
GK Sundaram argued that the Gold Control Act “would increase smuggling” and also eventually create “harm to internal security” which was witnessed later until the 1991 reforms. He also vehemently criticised the bank nationalisation. Regarding the MRTP Act, he said that the government aimed to merely to enforce the command and control without the view to provide economic freedom to produce more domestically. He had warned the Union Government that the MRTP Act “could cause a lot of hassles in the long run”, which indeed it did."
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