The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Fitting lesson

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Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008
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Fitting lesson

This refers to the editorial “Telangana takes a back seat” (June 3). The Telangana electorate has taught a fitting lesson to politicians who whip up regional passions and cash in on the so-called sentiment of the people. It should serve as a lesson to all those who have been thriving on such illusion for years.

The Rajasekhara Reddy government should focus on development and complete all the projects in Telangana, where the demand for a separate State no longer seems to exist.

M. Mohan Raja,

Hyderabad

The editorial rightly sums up that the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party can be more confident of preparing for the general elections now. But the Congress will be committing a mistake if it enters into an alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi again.

C.N. Parthasarathy,

Hyderabad

I agree that the outcome of the by-elections can be seen only as a vote for development. The rapid development that has taken place in Andhra Pradesh since its creation in 1956 has put it on the world map. The State now competes with Karnataka in the IT sector. Two American Presidents stopped over in Hyderabad during their visit to India. The creation of a separate state of Telangana will be a retrograde step. The Centre should actively discourage the creation of new States in the interest of unity and development.

M. Riaz Hasan,

Middlesex

The TRS was in a ‘do-or-die’ position as the by-elections were crucial for it to prove its strength before the general elections. It was not at all necessary to form a political party on the development issue; a pressure group could have reminded the government of the day that development of a region has been overlooked. The formation of the TRS, it would appear, was not worth it as people’s ‘sentiments’ get diluted in course of time.

S.M. Fasiullah,

New Delhi

The manner in which the TRS conducted its poll campaign was self-defeating. It failed to connect with the voters and paid dearly. The language used by its leaders against other parties was another reason for its poor show. The party deservingly lost all the seats which it represented earlier. The verdict is a clear signal that no one wants the State divided again. One hopes the TRS will give up its campaign for a separate state.

A.V.S. Subrahmanyam,

Vijayawada

It is true that the TRS could not win all the seats but holding it entirely responsible for the by-elections is unjustified. The attitude of the ruling establishment to the plight of the people of the Telangana region and non-fulfilment of the promises made in the 2004 election manifesto are the reasons that triggered the elections. A low voter turnout does not point to the sentiment of the entire region.

K. Vaidya,

Secunderbad

Perhaps for the first time since Independence, a determined batch of 13 farmers belonging to the Dalit, Adivasi and backward sections helped to defeat a sitting MLA of a well established party to protest the takeover of their land (“Polepally protesters sway poll outcome,” June 3).

The farmers achieved their objective against all odds. This exercise can be repeated by others against unpopular government decisions.

Capt. T. Raju (retd.),

Secunderabad

By forcing the defeat of the TRS MLA , the Jadcherla 13 have demonstrated the alternatives that democracy offers to the people. Their aim —to lower the votes of the main parties — in itself reflects the neglect of people’s issues by mainstream politics.

Lipin Ram,

Thiruvananthapuram

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