The Hindu : Premature polls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Premature polls

Sir, — The fact that the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, wants to advance the elections to Parliament and Chandrababu Naidu to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly shows that they want to capitalise on the feel-good factor.

If the leaders really want to serve the people, they need not attempt to ride on such waves. This amounts to riding on people's backs as crores of rupees are needed to conduct an election.

S.R. Devaprakash,

Tumkur, Karnataka

* * *

Sir, — I am in total agreement with the views expressed in the article, "Premature polls — then and now" (Jan. 20) that the advancing of elections this time round is unique. The move has been preceded by intense debate and discussion.

Whatever the overall merits and demerits of Mr. Vajpayee's leadership, one cannot accuse him of unilateralism. Whether it was sending troops to Iraq, review of POTA or the disinvestment issue, they were preceded by debate and discussion.

S. Sundararaman,

Coonoor, T.N.

* * *

Sir, — How can governments dissolve Parliament/Assemblies when there is no compelling reason? They only contribute to a "feel-bad" factor.

Christa Manjrekar,

Srirangapatna, Karnataka

* * *

Sir, — Though the BJP is posing the question "Vajpayee versus who", it seems to have accepted Sonia Gandhi as the potential prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition.

By raking up her foreign origin issue, the BJP has admitted as much.

H. Ghouse Baig,

Tiruchi, T.N.

* * *

Sir, — The announcement of a prime ministerial or chief ministerial candidate is not necessary before elections. The leader of the majority party will assume that position. What if the projected candidate loses the elections or is dropped by the party at the eleventh hour?

N.V. Rama Rao,

Visakhapatnam, A.P.

* * *

Sir, — The smaller parties are reaping the rewards of the effort put in by the two major parties. They have the advantage of shifting sides every five years or every term.

Rajesh Madhavan,

Chennai

* * *

Sir, — Will the Government stop all "India Shining" advertisements immediately? Arun Jaitley admitted on television that the Government is spending Rs. 50 crores on them. This is an advertisement for the BJP at the cost of the exchequer!

Michael G.,

Bangalore

* * *

Sir, — The term "India shining" means nothing to us, the Cauvery delta farmers, who are yet to get a drop of water from Karnataka.

J. Jose Kissinger,

Karur, T.N.

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