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Unjustified criticism

Mid-term elections are being thrust on the people, which will make the nation poorer by crores of rupees. And the responsibility for this lies with the Congress. Its president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi needs to explain to the people how those opposing the India-United States nuclear deal can be considered as being against the nation’s progress and development.

Ms. Gandhi’s criticism does not seem to be based on reason. It is a reflection of her impatience, the UPA’s inability to convince the Left parties about the need for the deal, and anger at the people and the political parties representing them.

Vasa Venkata Karthik,

Visakhapatnam

Ms. Gandhi’s criticism of the opponents of the nuclear deal is unjustified. She knows that the agreement has attracted opposition from not only political circles but also scientists, analysts, think-tanks, and the media. Even a chunk of the public opinion is against the deal. Are all the opponents enemies of progress?

The Congress should ensure that such remarks are not repeated and should focus on fulfilling the commitments made in the common minimum programme.

B. Jayanna Krupakar,

Surathkal The Congress’ ‘commitment’ to the nuclear deal even at the risk of the UPA government falling is indeed surprising. The government has never shown such commitment to any issue in the face of opposition from its allies. It is, in fact, Ms. Gandhi who has urged the Prime Minister to be more accommodative of the allies’ concerns.

The argument that the government will lose face if it fails to honour an international agreement is untenable because even the U.S. Congress has refused to ratify many agreements entered into by the Chief Executive.

V. Venkatasubramanian,

Mumbai Ms. Gandhi’s remarks have stirred up a hornets’ nest when the parleys between the Left and the Congress on the nuclear deal are still incomplete. Such comments go against the democratic spirit and well-merited public opinion. Any hasty move on the part of the Congress leaders at this stage would only lead to a mid-term poll for which the sangh parivar is eagerly waiting.

T.V. Ramamurthy,

Chennai

Congress leaders have attempted to explain Ms. Gandhi’s remarks on the nuclear deal as being Haryana-specific. Is Haryana not part of India? Does it need a separate foreign policy announcement?

What was the relevance of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal to the foundation stone laying ceremony of a power plant?

K.P. Venugopalan,

Mumbai How long can the government keep the nuclear deal pending? The people and the scientific community are of the view that it is necessary to operationalise the deal to end India’s isolation in the nuclear world.

The government should state clearly that the deal will not affect our sovereignty. It should go ahead and face the consequences.

K.R. Viswanathan Pillai,

Chennai It looks like coalition politics is slowly but surely coming to an end. Looking at the differences between the UPA and the Left parties over the nuclear deal and the political developments in Karnataka, one feels it is time the Constitution was amended to prevent alliances of convenience.

Only pre-electoral alliances should be recognised so that the people are aware of whom they are voting for. This will ensure stability and avoid huge expenditure on untimely elections.

Ashok Viswanath,

Chennai

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