MyVoice: Views of our readers 28th January 2024

Congress making it easy for BJP, by wrecking Oppn bloc

What an apt and reasonable narrative envisioned in Ramu Sarma's Bold Talk: "Flouting of Mitra Dharm by Cong will be INDI bloc bane" (THI January 27). This bloc should study Mitra Labham and Panchatantra fables. The grand old Congress party lost its glow since the last phase of PM Manmohan Singh and recouping its charm again has become a tough task now with the elevation of Bharatiya Janata Party by dint of hard work and goal-oriented spade work by devoted and committed leaders such as AB Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi etc., and this legacy is being continued by Narendra Modi. Now where is that spirit in Congress and its alliance parties? Where have gone all its primary supporters like West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Delhi's Kejriwal, Bihar's Nitish Kumar (reports say he is again shifting loyalty to BJP) and other partners? The eirenicon of Jairam Ramesh, Sitaram Yechuri to convince INDIA bloc ingredients to stick to bloc's ideals in order to realise the efforts to keep BJP-led NDA away from power but they seem to be stultifying and sticking to their guns. Political power cannot be accomplished in the absence of unity and integrity by inherently surmounting internal squabbles. Hence, Jodo yatras bear no fruits.

– Dr NSR Murthy, Secunderabad

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The article "Flouting of Mitra Dharm by Congress will be INDI bloc bane" is an apt article. Indeed, BJP has somewhat succeeded in keeping opposition at bay, but in politics, wind may change any time. As far as Nitish Kumar’s exit is concerned, it will not affect the opposition bloc much. For Nitish Kumar going anywhere is like a home coming. His ideology changes like winds. He is so ambitious that he would sail like a wind. Previously, Amit Shah said that for Nitish, BJP doors are closed permanently. Nitish also commented that he would die but he would never join hands with BJP. Now leaders of BJP are welcoming Nitish proves that there are no permanent friends and foes in politics. Politics are for the opportunist people and not for the people of ideologies. You are true that grand old party is committing mistake after mistake. But hope that things will change and bring the grand old party into better position in future. One thing is sure the nation is not ready to bear BJP for next tenure. So, the real person to change the destiny of this nation is a wise voter.

– Zeeshan, Kazipet

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The opposition camp, as expected, is collapsing with two tall leaders almost leaving the I.N.D.I.A front and the other party AAP expressing its intention not to concede any seats to any party in Punjab and Delhi. Senior leader Sharad Pawar is not so active in the Front as he knows the Congress party's mind quite well. The only strong supporter of the block is DMK's Stalin and he may either way not offer more than 5 Lok Sabha seats. The strength and weakness of the I.N.D.I.A block is Congress, but unfortunately that party is not strong where it is directly in fight with BJP. The newly won states of Karnataka, Telangana and HP may not offer the Congress all the seats in the respective states. In all those states, Congress may not win even 50% of the seats. It was this weakness of Congress which is making the other parties leave the bloc even much before the seat-sharing formulae are initiated.

After its loss in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Congress party is no longer in a position of strength to set the agenda and the lead. Communist parties are political parasites and a drag on the opposition camp. Without its presence in any state, the Left wants a share in the seats and CPM, the main party in Kerala is not ready to accommodate Congress, even in Wayanad, which is seat currently held by Rahul Gandhi. With such pell-mell in their ranks and not so appreciable slogan of ‘Modi Hatao’ without a common agenda and alternative economic policy and governance model it is, as on today, a straight third victory for BJP, even erasing the Congress record of 404 seats in the Lok Sabha, which were won in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi assassination.

– Dr Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao, Vijayawada

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The 28-party opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A is collapsing, with parties like TMC and Aam Aadmi Party going solo in the coming General Elections. The architect of the opposition unity and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar going back to NDA fold is unbelievable. Rahul’s Yatra is facing hurdles in some states. It appears that the opposition parties are not willing to accept Congress in the leadership position. All this infighting in the opposition bloc will turn out to be an advantage to NDA-led BJP. In a true democracy, the role of Opposition is a must and hence the success of opposition unity lies in reconciling their aspirations and coming out with a common agenda, by setting aside their egos.

– Ganti Venkata Sudhir, Secunderabad

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It is pertinent to recall that during the sixth Lok Saba elections in 1977, senior statesman and freedom fighter Jaya Prakash Narayan of Bihar united the opposition factions, including the rightwing political party, Janasangh, to fight against the authoritarian regime of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. As the entire allies followed their leader, JP, the end result was astonishing as there was a landslide mandate much to the surprise of the then ruling party.

Interestingly today, again a Bihari Babu i.e., Nitish Kumar made a desperate attempt to unite the 28 opposition factions to destabilise the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the forthcoming Parliament elections. However, one cannot find a 'Loknayak' in Kumar. Reason: Unlike the then ace leader, the Bihar Chief Minister has his own political weakness. The unexpected victory of Congress in recent assembly elections restored confidence in Congress bigwigs, but it conveniently ignored its subsequent debacle in Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh States. Next, the regaining of its lost power in southern States is not mainly due to the so-called 'yatras' of their leader Rahul Gandhi, but due to anti- incumbency and corrupt administration of ruling parties. Interestingly, without taking the cognisance of its other constituents, the Congress launched another unilateral 'yatra' much to the annoyance of its partners.

On the other side, the charismatic crowd puller of BJP, Narendra Modi, in order to retain power for third consequent term is already preparing the road map. As a first measure, the Prime Minister now started approaching the 'labharthis' (beneficiaries) to take stock whether the freebies of his government reached them, so as to seek the returns from them in the form of votes. In this endeavour, his opponents seem to be far behind. And Nitish babu is all set to once again join the NDA bandwagon, much to the annoyance of INDIA!

– Govardhan R Jilla, Mumbai

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The writer V Ramu Sarma rightly came out that Rahul Gandhi's attitude right from the beginning after the wins in Karnataka and Telangana clearly reveals that his moves towards senior leaders in the INDI bloc are not only going to prove death-knell to Mahagathbandhan but lead to the collapse of the opposition much before the polls. Ever since the formation of INDI block consisting of 28 parties, the statements from Rahul Gandhi time and again have not been creating a congenial atmosphere to draft a clear strategic plan to fight BJP. In short, the big brotherly attitude of Congress at every stage and the failure to arrive at seat-sharing saw parties in the INDI block distance from Congress. After Congress tried to sideline senior leaders, the writing on the wall is clear that the spirit of party leaders in the INDI bloc has hit the rock-bottom without any semblance of a chance for a patch-up. Consequently, like earlier, it is not surprising that INDI block on the path of disintegration is sad due to one man wanting to play a dominant part in the selection and election of persons. This is not only antithetical to democracy but unfavourable to dislodge Narendra Modi who is gaining stronger due to ad hoc and incoherent policy of the INDI block.

– K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

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Yes, as expected, the rag-tag parties coming together without an ideology just to defeat well-entrenched Narendra Modi with a bold title ‘INDIA’ resulted in Bruna Hatya ( Baby is killed before it is born in the womb itself). With megalomaniacs and arrogant politicians like Mamata Banerjee, Kejriwal and ever PM aspirant Nitish Kumar and the Congress being led by a non serious leader like Rahul Gandhi, how can the bloc work in unison? All are pulling the bloc to different sides resulting in its fragmentation. It does require a pundit or an intellectual to predict the fate of the INDIA bloc. It t is heading towards a permanent collapse. Nitish Kumar, who is stamped a proven turncoat and initiated the opposition unity, himself jumped the ship and is joining hands with NDA alliance just to retain power. The so-called INDIA block is running a puppetry show to provide us entertainment.

– Rama Krishna M, Kakinada

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The moral turpitude of Congress barely gives room for any ‘Mitra Dharm’ to play out in the INDI bloc. That has been the legacy of the party which is now reduced to the state of ‘seat begging’ rather than ‘seat sharing’ that the party can demand of other political groups that are firmly entrenched in different states of the country. This pathetic state is staring at the Congress because of systematic stifling of sane voices in the party that is now reduced to 'yes sayers' to any nonsense that comes out of the mouth of Rahul Gandhi.

The new party president Mallikarjun Kharge despite his previous experience and political acumen proved no better, except to play a second fiddle.

The sane leadership vacuum has severely affected the party to make it a terminal patient, well on the way to ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ for thoughtless actions and irresponsible comments by the top leadership that are outright anti-national and thoroughly disgusting to an average level-headed Indian who may be uneducated and poor, but definitely not bereft of commonsense and a good measure of nationalism.

The reluctance of parties in the INDI Alliance to seat-sharing with the Congress is reflective of diminishing relevance of Rahul Gandhi, who is regarded as a political buffoon rather than as an upcoming and encouraging individual to give leadership to the party. The JD (U) to become part of the NDA is another vindication of the pathetic state in the opposition bloc.

– S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

Past master at turncoat politics

Political opportunism at its peak could be witnessed in Bihar alone. Nitish Kumar is the new definition for turncoat politics in the country's "democratic" history. Strangely, he is not merging JD(U) with others but only aligning to share the spoils of power. I think BJP, too, is acting as if people's memory is short-lived and, therefore, it could indulge in any kind of manipulative politics unmindful of the likely consequences. The English saying once bitten twice shy is not heeded by it. BJP is conveniently forgetting the debacle it had experienced in Karnataka recently. Ultimately it is the people of Bihar State who would be suffering the most as the politicians are always busy calculating their 'gains' ignoring developmental activities and the welfare of the people in general. The discerning electorate should vote out such 'selfish' politicians and teach them a lesson or two on democratic values.

– Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

Women power to the fore at R Day

The 75th Republic Day celebrations turned more glorious with the maximum participation of women this time at the Republic Day parade. For the first time ever in the history, all women tri-service contingent marched down the Kartavya Path, showcasing the women power of new India.

The 100 women artists heralded the parade invocation with their musical band. Later, Monika Lakara commanded her team. CISF contingent was led by Kashyap Monika, Ambika Patil commanded ITBP marching band, Jaya Sharma led SSB band, and so on. It is indeed such a touching moment to watch Indian women marching with such a gallantry and pride along the Kartavya Path, meeting their Kartavya (Responsibility) of their service to their nation's. The splendid doughtiness of our Nati Shakti at the nation's 75th Republic Day soaked every Indian with the feeling of gratification and triumph.

– Kirti Wadhawan, Kanpur

Constitutionalism in peril in India

The preamble of the Constitution says, 'India, the Union of States' but this is being diluted to realise the ruling party's ideology of fostering unitary system by reducing the rights and role of the States. Efforts for One Nation One Tax System, One Nation One Language, One Nation One Religion and One Nation One Election are a few examples to prove this. Federal structure is being dismantled. The Union government is boldly encroaching upon the rights of the States. Rights in the concurrent list of the Constitution are slowly but arbitrarily taken over by the Union government. Liberties ensured in the Constitution seem to be kept under suspended animation. Hundreds of social activists are imprisoned since months and years without charges framed. They are those who have freely expressed their dissent and dissatisfaction against the anti-people policies and programmes of the ruling dispensation. Secular character of the Constitution is confined to letters. The government is openly promoting a particular religion signaling the subversion of the minorities. Governors of non-BJP ruled States are redefining the federal system in their own ways.

There is a bold attempt by a section to remove the great sacrifices of the Father of the Nation and great leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru from the minds of the people. This same section which took a hostile stand against Netaji for fighting against the British is now glorifying him in a deliberate attempt to rewrite history to accommodate their ideology. Such attempts of hiding facts with fictions need to be addressed by patriotic citizens.

- A G Rajmohan, Anantapur

Coal-fired plants can reduce emissions

This refers to the news item published in Hans India newspaper dated 27th Jan on “How India can reduce thermal power emissions”. It mentions only about sulphur dioxide emissions. But Indian coals contain very low sulphur, so the quantity of sulphur dioxide emitted from thermal power plants is less and gets dispersed and diluted in the atmosphere to with PPM levels below allowable limit.

However, sulphur dioxide emissions will be of concern and require Flue Gas Desulphurisation Unit (FGD) to control them if imported coals with high sulphur are used in our thermal power plants. FGD costs up to 30% of capital cost of power plant. Though sulphur is low, Indian coals contain ash up to 50% and about 70% of coal mined in India is used for power generation. Therefore, the major emissions from coal-fired thermal power plants are flyash, carbon dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, not sulphur dioxide. Flyash causes air pollution and carbon dioxide & oxides of nitrogen, which cause global warming leading to climate change. Technologies are available to control all these pollutants.

– Dr O Prasada Rao, Hyderabad

Chiranjeevi deserves Padma Vibhushan

Chiranjeevi entertained, enthralled and enthused the audience with his dances and fights on screen for well over four decades. He essayed a variety of roles with aplomb and gave a number of real blockbusters though he believes his best is yet to come. Proir to his entry, the Tollywood was dominated by the Big Four of NTR, ANR, Krishna and Shobhan Babu. Chiranjivi eclipsed all of them and danced his way to the top where he remained for long. He remained a gentleman to the core saying right words at right places in right time and maintained distance from controversies. The fact that he got Padma awards under two different regimes speaks about his acumen. He was given Padma Bhushan by the Congress government and now selected for Padma Vibhushan award by the BJP government. Though he did not succeed in politics, he has proved to be a good politician with his sense of timing both on and off screen.

– Vinay Bhushan Bhagwaty, Hyderabad