The outcome of two by-elections, in Kerala and Punjab, may appear insignificant considering the volume of electoral seats in the country (“Bypoll cheer for Cong. as Jakhar sweeps Gurdaspur”, October 16). The elections were also not fought on any specific issues. However, the Congress which seemed done and dusted must be overwhelmed at these results as a ray of hope. As observed during the last Lok Sabha election, the preferences of voters are not easily discernible. It is a wake-up call for the BJP. Economic policies need to be fixed to generate employment and production. The party also needs to control overzealous sections within it trying to impose an ideology that may create divisions among different sections of society. The country’s foreign policy also calls for introspection.
Subramanian Venkatraman,
Chennai
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The Congress’s thumping win in Gurdaspur is a continuation of its triumph in the last election to the Punjab State Assembly and also a reaffirmation of voters’ faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. The win could be a much-needed boost for the revival of the party.
Despite the maxim “one swallow does not make a summer”, the BJP is sure to be taking stock of the result. There is also discomfiture for the Aam Aadmi Party. To the credit of the Chief Minister, he has not attributed the party’s success to the Gandhi family. It goes without saying that the win is the reward for the strong leadership of the party’s State unit.
C.G. Kuriakose,
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Kothamangalam, Kerala
There can be no second opinion that the victory of the Congress candidate in the Gurdsapur Lok Sabha constituency and the victory of IUML, its key partner in Kerala in the Vengra Assembly seat have dealt a body blow to the ruling BJP. This is more so looking at the fact that the Congress candidate in Gurdaspur has not only wrested the seat from the BJP rival but also has won with a whopping margin of 1,93,219 votes. In Vengara, the BJP has been made to bite the dust and pushed to the fourth place with just 5,728 votes and also way behind even the SDPI.
The mammoth victory of the Congress in the Maharashtra civic polls followed by these two defeats of the BJP indicate one thing; rejection of the anti-people policies of the BJP and the autocratic manner in which the ruling dispensation has been going ahead to implement draconian policies and unmindful of the sufferings of the common man.
Whatever said and done, it appears that the electorate is getting disillusioned with the functioning of the saffron party.
Tharcius S. Fernando,
Chennai