MyVoice: Views of our readers 9th March 2021

Modi, don't preach!

The blistering attack of honourable PM, against Mamata Didi, the only woman CM in India today, that too, on the eve of International Women's Day has reminded me of the ancient proverb" pot calling the kettle black. " ( Khel khatam, Vikas Shuru, 8 March ) The almighty BJP government at the Centre which has kept unsolved many critical issues plaguing the society today has no moral right to preach about porivartan. Take incessant rise in the prices of GDP, that is gas, diesel and petrol . Is it real change?

The farmers' agitation has already crossed 100 days mark. What parivartan has been brought in the lives of farmers across India? The economy is in doldrums, and there are no jobs for youth. Is there any visible change and development in these Covid times?. Hence ,the great leaders are duty bound to find solutions to the bread and butter issues first and then criticise others.

P H Hema Sagar, Secunderabad

PM comments unbecoming

Narendra Modi's speech at the Kolkata rally lacks decency and one wonders whether a head of the nation should stoop to such a low just for the sake of capturing power. It is amusing Modi, who failed miserably in curbing black money, unemployment, bad loans, farm crisis , petrol prices and so on promises Asol Paribartan in West Bengal (Khel khatam, Vikas Shuru, March 8). There is no justification that Modi leaves burning issues to wind and participate in a state assembly electioneering. It is a pity Modi, who could earn good number of friends globally , fail to find similar ones locally.

Kshirasagara Balaji Rao, Hyderabad

BJP is on the upswing

If the.crowd is any indication for any electoral results then message is clear from Brigade Parade Ground that TMC is going and BJP is coming and moreover uncontrolled exodus continue from TMC which can prove fatal for the party.. With fielding of candidate by ISF from Nandigram can shatter the calculation of TMC. and it has to be seen whether Mamata's.decision to contest Nandigram backfire or bring her back to power? Some times a leader like Mamata's stature chooses to contest from any constituency to has a psychological impact on the voters.TMC seems to have hit the right note by deciding to contest from Nandigram but it can prove counter productive also after fielding of candidate by ISF, which will affect the minority votes Mamata who is beleaguered by a spate of defections from the TMC in the five months proceeding the Assembly elections has taken the fight to the BJP's camp and tried to project a pro-poor image by returning to her political roots.

At a time when Didi is already licking the wounds inflicted by scores of defectors, her special focus on Nandigram might cost TMC dear in West Bengal. Mamata's decision to contest from the constituency might actually serve the BJP which has already launched it's "Mission 200+". Whether it is Didi's apprehensiveness or a bold calculated move, or the BJP'S ploy to make Mamata's channelise all her energy and focus on to Nandigram thus making her a spent force elsewhere, is the moot question which only voters will answer. For now, with the recent turn of events, West Bengal has become a hot spot of politics with the parties doing all that they can to win the elections.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

Vicious campaign unleashed

Politics is palpably peaking in West Bengal during the run-up to the mother of all elections. The catch-phrase in Bengali Khela hobe (Let us play the game) is on everyone's lips and captures the electric atmosphere prevailing in the poll-bound state. Still the campaign has become so vitiated and venomous that erstwhile Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty on joining the BJP has declared that he is a pure cobra that kills people with one bite and makes them photographs.

The TMC and the BJP appear to be the main contenders for power. Still in the triangular contest the Left-Congress alliance may make unexpected gains and bear on the electoral fortunes of the other two parties. Tactical voting that people might resort to this time could decisively determine the results. The one thing for which the election is closely watched across the country is that it is fought as an ideological battle between secularism (something perceived as the biggest threat to India's traditions by the likes of Yogi Adityanath and used almost defensively in the changed political climate) and Hindutva. It is amplified by the use of Jai Shri Ram chant as a war cry to polarise the voters along religious lines. This election is crucial as it will decide if West Bengal remains multihued or turns saffron.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of asol poriborton (real change) is in contradistinction to the kind of change that he has brought about at the national level making life more miserable for people minus his corporate friends. No wonder Didi's 'From ujjwala to jumla' jibe finds an echo in the hearts of the voters. The BJP has to fear not just Didi, but red-coloured cardboard replicas of LPG cylinders too.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu