The Hindu : Not anti-incumbency

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 11, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Not anti-incumbency

Sir, — The thumping success of the BJP in the Hindi belt cannot be wished away as merely because of the anti-incumbency factor. The feverish campaign by the saffron-clad sanyasin who became Madhya Pradesh's Chief Minister was certainly Hindutva at work.

There are ominous signs of cultural nationalism, precursor to fascism.

Pandit Nehru warned that the communalism of a majority community was apt to be taken for nationalism. The end result is a great deal of strife and unhappiness for the whole country.

N.G.R. Prasad,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — The talk that during the recent Assembly poll campaign the BJP had given up its Hindutva plank is not true. The party raises Hindutva during elections in States it is ruling to hide inadequacies on the development front. In non-BJP ruled States, its ploy is to raise development issues.

Going by this, it is not difficult to predict that the BJP will make Hindutva an issue in the 2004 general elections, despite whatever it says now.

Valerian Menezes,
Udupi, Karnataka

* * *

Sir,— The most encouraging part of the BJP's decisive victory in three States was its renunciation of the Hindutva plank.

In the last leg of its campaign, the central leadership forced the VHP and the Bajrang Dal to the sidelines.

S. ValliRajan,
Mumbai

* * *

Sir, — The drubbing the Congress received at the hustings should serve as an eye-opener. It is ability that counts, not the charisma of a single leader or the past glory of the party.

At least from now on Sonia Gandhi should mingle with the people and lend a patient ear to their woes. She should stop confining herself to a coterie. It is high time the Congress shed its complacency.

E. Udaya Kumar,
Anantapur, A.P.

* * *

Sir, — If the Congress is to regain its position as a national party it will have to deal with the dynastic claims to leadership of incompetent hangers-on at the national and regional levels, and factionalism in the party.

It should also resist the temptation of forging alliances with parties that swear by historical determinism and a unipolar political system. It should dump power-hungry old foxes and bring in young people as leaders.

Jacob George,
Changanasseri, Kerala

* * *

Sir, — Although the elections are an indictment of Sonia Gandhi's leadership, the trouble is that there is no alternative.

Congress satraps with their big egos and hostility to one another will agree only on someone who does not belong to any State, any language, any religion or community of India.

A.N. Lakshmanan,
Coimbatore

* * *

Sir, — Sadly, the Union Law Minister appears to have taken keen interest in the sting operation against Ajit Jogi. In Parliament, senior BJP leaders are reported to have said that such a thing has never happened in the country in the last 50 years. Have they forgotten Tehelka or even the Judev affair?

The need of the hour is for leaders of all political parties to speak up for transparency.

Satish Murdeshwar,
Pune

* * *

Sir, — The series titled "Election Analysis" on the results of the just-concluded Assembbly polls is outstanding. It is a valuable educational resource.

It is necessary to study elections objectively, with mathematical rigour and without any partisan bias. This bias is largely what is behind the debacle suffered by pollsters. Otherwise how could all the pre-poll surveys have painted a rosy picture for the Congress?

N.S. Rajaram,
Bangalore

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