Letters to the Editor - March 16, 2018

March 16, 2018 12:15 am | Updated 12:15 am IST

Bypoll shock

If the reverses in the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bypolls had put the BJP on the back foot, the U.P. and Bihar bypoll results must have come as a rude shock (“Triple bypoll shock for BJP”, March 15). What should rankle the party more is that it lost the Lok Sabha seats previously held by both the U.P. Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. It is becoming evident that the NDA’s sheen is wearing off and that voters have begun to see through the government’s boasts about its non-existent achievements. It has failed to tackle unemployment and agricultural distress, and has not been able to stop the activities of the fringe. If the SP-BSP combine remains intact till the 2019, the BJP’s prospects in U.P. may be bleak.

C.V. Aravind,

Chennai

If we look at the results from a different angle, these losses could be a blessing in disguise for the BJP. Knowing the party, it is going to leave no stone unturned to retain power at the Centre in 2019.

P.U. Krishnan,

Ooty

The BSP-SP understanding in U.P. should inspire all the other opposition parties to come together and pose a challenge to the BJP in 2019. But the opposition should not give too much room to the Congress. Under Rahul Gandhi, it lost in Gujarat, despite aligning with Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor. It would be better for the opposition to project a non-Congress leader as a prime ministerial candidate, as voters are not ready to accept Mr. Gandhi. This is the only way the BJP can be challenged.

V.S. Ganeshan,

Bengaluru

The BJP’s detractors might be happy. But once the euphoria settles, the question is, what would SP-BSP rule look like? Voters need to think about that. The current win by this disparate alliance will have limited significance in the long run.

S. Rajagopalan,

Chennai

The BJP got the jolt it deserved. But should we celebrate? In coalition politics, personal power and ambition become important and public and national interests take a beating. It is a politics of convenience, not a politics of conviction. The assumption that coalition ministries are more logical for a federal polity has been proven wrong. Instability, fragmented national policies, poor implementation of welfare schemes, blackmailing by big partners in a coalition are all the consequences of a coalition experiment. Instead of regional parties entering the fray, there should be competition between national parties in the 2019 elections. We need a strong government, but also a strong and united opposition.

Varathra Sreekumar,

Delhi

Some political analysts are calling this victory of the SP-BSP a watershed event, a turnaround. But can a byelection loss be termed a turnaround? While this was a reality check for the BJP, it seems unlikely that it will face any tough challenge in 2019 when the number of voters will be much higher. This is a minor hiccup for the BJP and a morale booster for the other two parties.

Utkarsh Agrawal,

Allahabad

U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was telling the people of Kerala to learn from his State’s record in health care. Yes, the people of Kerala are learning; they are learning how good his record is given that his party lost in his own constituency.

Mohan Menon,

Thrissur

What is Left?

The portrayal of the Left as a potent political force is amusing (“The Left doesn’t need the Congress”, March 15). The only communist Chief Minister in the country is Pinarayi Vijayan. Communism is no longer a force to reckon with in either West Bengal or Tripura. The idea of communism is unattractive to Indians. Whichever party aligns with the Left is looked at derisively. That being the case, there is no scope for arguing that the Left does not need the Congress to align with. Neither the Left nor the Congress has much relevance in the present political landscape. If anything, perhaps we can speak of how the Congress can survive without the Left.

V. Lakshmanan,

Tirupur

Both the Left and the Congress are facing existential crises like never before. With the right wing deepening its roots, we must consider these exceptional circumstances and the two should join hands. Moreover, the socialist Nehruvian era was the golden age of the Congress. So, the two should complement each other rather than compete.

Mayukh Devadas,

Thrissur

Hawking and the Nobel

The Nobel Prize remained elusive till the end for Stephen Hawking (“The man who traced the history of time dies”, March 15). This is because the Nobel Prize is given to discoveries that can be proved through experiment, whereas Hawking Radiation has not been proven till date. Given his contribution to the field of science, it would be more apt to say that Hawking remained elusive to the Nobel Prize until his death rather than the other way round.

N. Visveswaran,

Chennai

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