Mayawati’s decision to tender her resignation as a Rajya Sabha member is a political move to regain her lost image as the ‘saviour of the Dalits’ (“Resignation drama,” editorial, July 20). Beginning with the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the electoral fortunes of her party have been on a downswing. In the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, her party secured only 19 seats, down from 80 in 2012.
On the other hand, the BJP, after rebranding itself, gained the support of non-Jatav Dalit voters. The BSP could win only two of the 84 seats reserved for Dalits in the State and lost most of its traditional seats. Mayawati does not even have enough MLAs to get herself renominated to the RS when her term ends next year. However, the recent incidents of atrocities against Dalits and Muslims perpetrated by the cow vigilantes may have given her party a new rallying cry. Her anti-BJP stance has surely helped her find allies, including Lalu Prasad. And by resigning in the early days of the ongoing Monsoon Session, she has managed to gain enough national attention to stay in the news for sometime.
Buddhadev Nandi,
Bankura, West Bengal
No tolerance
The governing Shiv Sena’s call for legal action against RJ Malishka Mendonsa over her satirical song mocking the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s handling of the rains and the outcry over Kamal Haasan’s comments on corruption in Tamil Nadu are both proofs of attempts, of late, made by ruling governments to mute civilian voices raised against their incompetence. The visibility of public personalities provides them with a platform to voice their critical observations and get them heard, something unavailable to most citizens. In a democratic set-up, it is obligatory on the part of the governments to take criticism with a pinch of salt and respond to the grievances, instead of camouflaging the legitimate concerns.
Vivek Sasi,
Coimbatore
