MyVoice: Views of our readers 6th July 2023

BJP seems to be making self-goal in TS

Change of guard in Telangana State BJP has been on the cards for a while. The looming assembly elections have triggered the changes, though it is not certain as to how the new incumbents are in anyway better than those who are displaced. All said and done, it is Bandi Sanjay who brought a new life to the party with his penchant for being in news, through his padayatras, hunger strikes and acerbic attacks against TRS. His method may be crude, but it did pay dividends and the path looked promising. The new incumbent Kishan Reddy is an old horse but lacks aggression and power punch. His goody-goody approach and immaculate dressing may not cut ice in these hard times. Eatala Rajender doesn’t enjoy any mass appeal and is not a poster boy of BJP. The AP politics are agog with personal mudslinging of the worst order and it it is to be seen how a person like Purandeswari fits into the scene. Fact remains that BJP is short of effective leaders. In AP, there is no hope or scope for BJP, whatever may be the changes but in Telangana it seems to have made a self-goal by kicking Bandi out. If it had done this to placate Eatala, it is a costly price to pay.

Vinay Bhushan Bhagwaty, Hyderabad

II

It’s a great risky gamble by BJP national leadership to appoint Union Minister Kishan Reddy to replace Bandi Sanjay Kumar at this crucial election season (The Hans India, 5/7). There is no doubt that Bandi Sanjay had built the party with great expectations and good results with his aggressive nature against ruling BRS which has been playing tricks, opportunistic politics and luring people on caste basis and by showering schemes, dividing castes benefiting a few to go for a hat-trick win. But his replacement with Kishan Reddy is a surprise as he is neither dynamic nor public mobilising face like Bandi Sanjay. He is soft and cool with an address of class due to his position as a minister. But to tackle BRS, one has to be aggressive and offensive with political fight with daring and dashing speeches bringing more people into BJP fold.

JP Reddy, Delmont Dr, Michigan

Canada must act against Sikh extremists

Resurgence of radical Sikh propaganda is indeed very dangerous and a huge concern for India. Canada had better take a serious note of these recent developments. Most of the Sikhs settled in Canada are peace-loving citizens and it is only extremists radical groups who have hijacked the agenda. Their planned Pro-Khalistan rally has openly threatened the violence and Canadian authorities must not let it pass in the name of freedom of speech . Only last month we saw a float depicting late Indira Gandhi’s assassination in Canada. The Canadian Prime Minister may have some political compulsions but it will only backfire on him and our trade ties will become part of that collateral damage.

Bal Govind, Noida

Cong promises to cost K’taka dearly

Apropos editorial ‘Congress rises even as BJP flounders in Karnataka’. There is little or no doubt that the BJP alone can be blamed for the Congress comeback in Karnataka, owing to gross failure in tackling flooding of some parts of Bengaluru during the monsoon. The Congress also used the ‘40 per cent commission’ tag to the hilt against BJP as contractors routinely complained of it as a handy weapon; which the BJP miserably failed to counter. The pro-Muslim stand that the Congress is into is worrying. The free bus ride for ladies allowed in KSRTC buses added to the woes of regular commuters; and the temples are overcrowded by women devotees these days. Congress must ponder on the long-term viability of the ‘5 guarantees’ made to voters that are already causing serious financial hiccups for the state.

K R Parvathy, Mysuru

II

The grand old party is under a delusion that a single win in Karnataka playing appeasement politics to the hilt and offering unimaginable freebies cannot be said that it enjoys a clout among the voters. When the opposition unity in which Congress taking a lead to unite parties is floundering at every step, it only goes to prove that the party’s win in Karnataka is not due to any pro-Congress wave but beguiled by the unpractical freebies. All in all, BJP’s loss in Karnataka can at best be said a passing phase reminding the party at the same time that it needs to ponder and come up with a new value system centred around merit and excellence immediately to save the party from further nose-diving.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad