The UPA has completed nine long years in office and is “going, going, not gone” despite being reduced to a ‘minority’ following the withdrawal of the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, thanks to the vested interests of the main Opposition party, the BJP, and the two major parties of Uttar Pradesh — the SP and the BSP (“With enemies like these…”, May 30).
No party is prepared to topple the government out of fear of facing the people with a poor report card. While the BJP is plagued with infighting on who to project as its prime ministerial candidate, the SP and the BSP are scared of being questioned by the CBI. The end loser, as usual, is the aam aadmi , who is unable to make ends meet due to spiralling prices and inflation — the result of poor governance.
A. Jainulabdeen,
Chennai
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slowly but steadily moving towards the successful completion of his second term in office. It is no mean feat; he must be the luckiest politician in independent India. Everything fell in place just to ensure that this reluctant bureaucrat ruled India for a decade.
UPA-II is arguably the most controversy ridden regime in independent India’s memory. If Dr. Singh has still managed to take the ship closer to the shore, it is because the Opposition is barely visible. Things can only get better from here on for Singh & Co. What choice does the electorate have? There is no lesser evil to choose.
Raj Vikram,
Kochi
For a ruling party to be toppled, three factors are necessary. The party’s performance should be dismal; the Opposition should be able to expose the ruling party’s inaction; and, most important, the combined Opposition should present a better choice to the voter.
The first and second conditions exist. But the third condition is non-existent. If the Opposition parties want to topple the UPA in 2014, they will have to present a united and able choice to the voters. Otherwise, we may see UPA-III coming to power.
Ajeet Tiwari,
Patna
Unless the BJP and its allies put up a united fight, they cannot get even 200 seats in the Lok Sabha election. The UPA will be united under one leader, Rahul Gandhi. Can this be said of the NDA? Are all its constituents ready to contest under Narendra Modi? Certainly not. In spite of all the scandals and scams, the UPA is not yet easily defeatable.
G. Arunkumar,
Tirupur
