Letters to the Editor

Published : Jun 11, 2014 12:30 IST

Election victory

FL27MODI

Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party leader and India's next prime minister Narendra Modi, center, BJP President Rajnath Singh, right, and Amit Shah, left, watch evening rituals being performed on the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi, an ancient city revered by millions of devout Hindus, India, Saturday, May 17, 2014. Modi will be India's next prime minister, winning the most decisive victory the country has seen in more than a quarter century and sweeping the long-dominant Congress party from power, results showed Friday. An elaborately decorated platform was built for him to offer prayers on the banks of the river. Saffron flags fluttered above the flower bedecked platform and thousands of supporters and onlookers milled around to watch as Hindu priests chanted sacred verses and burnt incense. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

THE cover photograph of Narendra Modi in full Hindutva make-up was appropriate and is an indication of things to come (Cover Story, June 13). The Cover Story articles explained the expected agenda of the new government. As one concerned with education, I am worried that what Murli Manohar Joshi left unfinished will be hastened through. Already there are signs of Hindutva notions getting into school curricula. It is time States like Tamil Nadu fought to restore education to the State List.

S.S. Rajagopalan

Chennai

THE BJP under the stewardship of Modi and Rajnath Singh secured an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha for the first time. All their supporters and a major section of the media are going gaga over this achievement. But is it so very remarkable? It has been reported that about 55 crore people cast their vote. With the BJP securing 31 per cent of the votes, this amounts to some 17 crore people. However, the total voter strength is 85 crore, which means that the BJP bagged about 20 per cent of the total number of votes. It should keep in mind that it secured only about 50 per cent of the seats and 20 per cent of the votes.

Yeshwant Mehta

Ahmedabad, Gujarat

THE long wait is over. I hope that the BJP’s win was indeed out of frustration with the policies of the previous dispensation, the crumbling infrastructure and unemployment and not because of any religious agenda. I am glad that at the outset Modi made it clear to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh that he did not want its interference in key decisions.

Ritvik Chaturvedi

New Delhi

PEOPLE say that Modi is autocratic and that by inducting newcomers like Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani in his Cabinet he has shown that he will have the last word in selecting his team. But if that was the case, why did he give his bureaucrats a free hand to run their offices the way they want? The answer is: He wants results. The bottom line for him is performance, and he knows that he can get the desired output from these newcomers and that they can be groomed for bigger responsibilities. His 100 days agenda and 14-15 hours’ work a day is much like the functioning of the corporate world, where appraisals take place and non-performers are thrown out.

Bal Govind

Noida, Uttar Pradesh

MODI has become Prime Minister, much to the discomfort of the so-called secularists. He happens to be the first Prime Minister who was born in independent India. The U.S. should bow its head in shame over Modi’s victory as it denied him a visa three times when he was Chief Minister. Now he can visit the U.S. without any visa. President Barack Obama has even invited Modi to visit America.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu

Alappuzha, Kerala

THE Modi effect was monumental as he surged past the opposition in style in the general election. He came, saw and conquered people’s hearts. His perseverance yielded results. He travelled extensively across the country and held many meetings, at which he talked about development. Now, the time has come for him to deliver on his promises.

Subramaniam C.K.

Navi Mumbai

THE long struggle of a party to rule the country singlehandedly has, at last, fructified under the able direction of Modi. Though the trend in favour of the BJP was strong this time, that it would get an absolute majority without the help of alliance partners surprised many. However, the goal was achieved mainly because of people’s outright rejection of the previous regime. Despite the UPA government’s many economic reforms and people-friendly initiatives, corruption and price rise eroded its credibility.

The foremost task of the new government will be, among others, to provide good governance free from corruption. One hopes that the BJP-led government will follow the principle of one of the founders of BJP, the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who once said: “The party must work for all including for those who have not voted for us.”

Jayant Mukherjee

Kolkata

MODI’S decision to extend invitations to the heads of government of SAARC nations for the swearing-in ceremony can be hailed as an important step because it sent a strong positive signal that India wanted to normalise relations with all its neighbours. India’s foreign policy has for far too long been inconsistent, as a result of which relations with China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka soured. From this perspective, Modi’s move to develop bilateral relations with India’s neighbours will help promote peace in the subcontinent and improve opportunities for trade and cultural exchanges.

K.R. Srinivasan

Secunderabad, Telangana

ONE of the challenges before the new government will be to provide a safe environment for women and children (“Gender issues”, June 13). The increasing incidence of sexual harassment and rape indicates the ineffectiveness of laws on sexual crimes and the need for a cultural change. The government should take up issues relating to women’s rights.

T.V. Jayaprakash

Palakkad, Kerala

Code of conduct

BY flashing the BJP’s election symbol in public after casting his vote, Modi behaved like an overenthusiastic first-time voter (Cover Story, May 30). If this is how a seasoned politician behaves, God help the nation. The ruckus he created over the Election Commission (E.C.) denying him permission to hold a rally in Varanasi was also unbecoming of a prime ministerial aspirant.

K.P. Rajan

Mumbai

POLITICAL parties should show respect to constitutional bodies such as the E. C. They appear to have forgotten the model code of conduct. The E.C. needs to crack the whip far more often than it does now. It is high time India undertook comprehensive electoral reforms to enhance transparency and accountability in the electoral process.

Rahul Bhowmick

Siliguri, West Bengal

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