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Gujarat elections

Ramaswamy R. Iyer’s reflections on the Gujarat elections (Jan. 5) deserve serious attention. Winning elections through sheer rhetoric that appeals to parochialism and vanity is a dangerous trend, set by Narendra Modi. Unless we realise its potential danger, it will spread to other States too. Then the questions that Mr. Iyer asks about Gujarat will have to be reworded: “What has happened to India? Is it still redeemable?”

Tomichan Matheikal,

New Delhi

The question raised in the article is also relevant in the context of the recent violence in Orissa. Gujarat is still redeemable if the Congress takes a stern stand on secularism as taken by the CPI(M) on Orissa. The Congress leadership should categorically reject Hindutva.

K.C. Cherian,

Kottayam The article argues that while Gujarat 2002 and Delhi 1984 were both deeply horrifying and profoundly disturbing, they cannot be compared. The victims of the 1984 riots have not been rehabilitated even after 23 years and the perpetrators have got away. If the Congress and the Delhi populace could move ahead and put the riots behind them, why doubt the Gujaratis’ ability to do the same? It is not proper to question the Gujarati psyche on the basis of the electoral results. I would like to remind the author that there were riots in Gujarat even before 2002, during the Congress regime. The 1969 riots were worse.

P. Venaktasubramanian,

Chennai

Concerns such as those expressed in the article have existed over Gujarat and other places — Delhi, Meerut, Moradabad, Bhiwandi — at different times throughout the six decades following independence. To fault the Gujarati psyche for the recent election result risks alienation of the community. What the Gujarat electorate seems to have done is to put 2002 where it deserves to be — five years backwards — and look to the future. The reasons the Congress lost were it could not think beyond 2002 and conceive a vision better than Mr. Modi’s. Election results should be accepted gracefully and the electorate’s sentiment acknowledged.

Devraj Sambasivan,

Alappuzha

The Gujarat election was fought on only one agenda — that Mr. Modi was responsible for the 2002 riots and he should not be re-elected. This was aided and abetted by many agencies in India. The electorate thought otherwise and elected Mr. Modi as its leader again. His opponents should accept that the common man knows what is best for him.

V.R. Janardhanam,

Chennai

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