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The Congress stand

Sir, — The 118-year-old Congress is rudderless and is scouting for partners to fight elections. Sonia Gandhi herself is willing to let others ride in the saddle, and the party has conceded that it will not impose its leadership on others. It lost in three States in the recent Assembly elections. In Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, infighting continues. In Karnataka, some Congressmen are for removing Ms. Gandhi or for the dissolution of the party. It is sad to note that the Congress is for a coalition with any party.

A. Ramanathan,
Chennai

Sir, — Ms. Gandhi's readiness to leave aside the issue of leadership is not important — the issues concerning the people are. As the CPI (M) has pointed out, the main Opposition party should come out with a policy to discuss with the other parties and prepare a common minimum programme.

Hari,
Virudhunagar, T.N.

Sir, — The Congress' decision not to declare its prime ministerial candidate in advance is welcome. For the time being, it has helped set aside critical discussions on the foreign origin issue. If the concurring secular parties have honest intentions about defeating the NDA, it is time they put differences on the backburner and began concentrating on the more important issues.

Jeyshree Jayaraman,
Coimbatore

Sir, — Before defeating anti-secular forces, Ms. Gandhi should take strong steps to defeat anti-party forces within the Congress.

M.S. Sujith,
Kothamangalam, Kerala

Sir, — With elections fast approaching, it is time the secular/anti-secular debate was given a decent burial. For, all political parties pledge allegiance to the secular Constitution. So, by definition, no political party can be anti-secular and be described as such. If any party is perceived as anti-secular, the ideal remedy would be to approach the Election Commission to bar it. No party or group of parties should be allowed to attach to itself the secular tag to the exclusion of others.

R. Venkataraman,
Mumbai

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