Congress President Sonia Gandhi is now faced with pointed questions in the AgustaWestland deal — under whose directive was AgustaWestland found to be technically qualified? Were the tender conditions tampered with? Even though a field trial/evaluation was to be done in India, why was it changed subsequently? These questions are germane and relevant and need to be answered by the tallest leader of the great party.
R. Sampath,Chennai
The helicopter deal is costing the nation dear as it holding up precious parliamentary business. It is vitiating the political atmosphere and spoiling the chances of any cooperation between the ruling and Opposition sides to make progress on serious legislative business. The sensible thing for the government to do would be to focus on initiating a transparent all-party inquiry.
Hemavathi A.,Secunderabad
While it is understandable that The Hindu is upset (Editorial, April 29) that a sagacious and level-headed person like Union Minister Arun Jaitley should, in Parliament, have imputed political motives to the daily for carrying the Christian Michel interview, the paper should ponder over the question whether it should have given so much prominence and space to the said middleman. Even understanding readers cannot escape a feeling of misgiving that the newspaper, in its quest for objectivity and openness in reporting, sometimes tends to veer towards the anti-government extreme. Even the title of the Editorial, “More noise than light”, which suggests an inconclusiveness and an equation in the matter, has a neutrality that is not appropriate. There is a lot of light everywhere on the scam itself and a great deal to be answered by the UPA.
A.N. Lakshmanan,Chennai
Where is the famed “inner voice” of the Congress president? An inner voice must be heard even during the most searching moments in life. Sonia Gandhi needs to ask herself why charges of deep-rooted corruption and scandal have continued to shadow her party. She must step down till such time as her name is cleared. By taking the high moral ground, it will not only add to her aura; it will be yet another political masterstroke.
Jaya Raman,Mumbai