Having used harsh invectives against Narendra Modi, the Congress party is not on firm ground to take umbrage to “the art of bathing in a bathroom with a raincoat on” jibe made by the Prime Minister (“PM’s remarks on Manmohan infuriate Cong. RS members”, Feb.9). Hurling insinuatory epithets against one another has brought the political discourse to the level of sound and fury signifying nothing much else.
Ayyasseri Raveendranath,
Aranmula, Kerala
It is a well known fact that the Prime Minister plays to the gallery whenever he addresses election rallies or when he orates in any part of the world. But when he uses the same rhetorical style while speaking in Parliament and resorts to theatrics while hurling barbs at his opponents with nary a care for their status or reputation assiduously built over decades, his diatribes are jarring. They might still be sweet music to his party, but for those against whom the jibes are directed it is a symphony gone wrong. Mr. Modi’s dig at Dr. Manmohan Singh has only sent the dignity of the high office of Prime Minister plummeting several notches. The remarks cannot be bracketed as a breach of parliamentary conduct rules, but his directing them at an octogenarian former Prime Minister who distinguished himself in office and was reputed for his honesty and integrity was something that could have been avoided.
C.V. Aravind,
Bengaluru
When Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was attacked in Parliament over the loss of Aksai Chin during the Sino-Indian war of 1962, Nehru is reported to have said that not a single blade of grass grows there ... and the nation had lost little by its occupation by China. Mahavir Tyagi, a senior Congress leader, pointed to his bald head and said: “Nothing grows here ..should it be cut off or given away to somebody else?” The House dissolved in laughter in which Nehru also joined. The days have changed where even humour could diffuse serious moments.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad
