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Looking ahead

Though you have stated in the editorial, ‘Looking ahead’ (January 1), that 2008 saw major political upheavals, every Indian will feel proud that democracy is not a casualty despite so many twists and turns in our political arena. Of course, the decision of the Left parties — known for their secular views and mass-oriented socialistic policies — to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government was unfortunate. But aam aadmi expects that they will reconsider their decision before the parliament elections to enable the secular forces to form a government.

Against odds, Indian democracy has survived even the worst hours of crisis. Hence we may expect that our voters will give a decisive victory to an alliance to install a stable government after the 15th general elections.

S. Nallasivan,

Tirunelveli

U.T.R. Sridhar Prasad,

Secunderabad

This refers to Vidya Subrahmaniam’s article, ‘2009: Waiting for the big battle’ (December 31). Broadly, it is admitted that there is bound to be an interesting battle of the ballot, resulting in a hung Parliament since both the electorate and the political parties — regional and mainstream — are all divided on many issues. But the electorate are now more concerned with peace, performance and development in their constituencies and so parties which sell those products more effectively during the campaign alone will stand to gain. The issues of terrorism and religious fundamentalism may cut no ice with the voters. Much will also depend on the selection of candidates, the strength of the alliance, the style of campaigning and the percentage of voting.

As the players are the same and as their nature and culture have not changed, the electorate are helpless, having to contend with limited choice. If more educated youngsters join politics, we may be able to redeem the situation.

T. Ramaswamy,

Chennai

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