MyVoice: Views of our readers 12th August 2022

PM Modi's remarks in bad taste

Taking a jibe at Congress for organising a protest wearing black dress, the PM went on to claim that only those who are depressed wear black and involve black magic. PM and his colleague have all the right to criticise Congress and other opposition parties, but calling black colour a sign of depression is of bad taste and that he himself began his long political journey from RSS wearing black cap which even now continues. Moreover he was seen wearing an Uttarakhandi black cap when he attended the swearing-in of Uttarakhand Chief Minister. He also seems to have forgotten that most of the temples in south India have black idols and they are in no way connected with black. Ideally, the PM could have simply ignored instead of creating controversy.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

Our core challenge

India still faces corruption issues despite 75 years of independence. The government has not been able to bring down the number of cases pending (4.7 crore) in courts across different levels of the judiciary. It is high time we realized that no matter what our political party or ideology, we have to fight for the core nation concept. In some states, the government appeases minorities and in other states, it appeases majorities. We need to understand that this country is not just about 'Har Ghar Tiranga' but it is about our core nation which was fought for by every single Indian for decades now.

Prasanna Vvenkatapur, Hyderabad

Nitish a political chameleon

Nitish Kumar re-established his political chameleon character once again. A man who started politics as an idealist has soon deteriorated into an opportunist because of his ambition to be the CM of Bihar. He ditched Lalu Prasad Yadav to form his own party to sit in the CM chair. He accused RJD of being corrupt and then joined hands with communal BJP and again went back to RJD and came back to BJP and the latest somersault is to approach not only RJD but even the other corrupt party called Congress. His message is clear, that he is ok with both 'corruption' and 'communal' parties as long as he is not disturbed from the CM chair. His political stand of Maha Ghatbandhan may not be the final one and at any opportune time he may go back to BJP if a better political offer comes from them.

Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao, Vijayawada

II

It is untrue to say that Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the BJP because he felt unease at its 'divisive ideology.' The plausible explanation for the parting of the ways was that he took a serious note of BJP president JP Nadda's assertion that all 'regional parties would vanish' and got wind of BJP's move to split his party. The 'RCP Singh episode' stretched the ties to breaking point and expedited the JD (U) realigning itself with the secular parties. Be that as it may, secular parties need to stick together to halt India's retreat from secularism. Given the overarching appeal of Hindutva and corporate backing to BJP, it is no easy task to mount a tough challenge against the saffron party, but not an impossible task.

G David Milton, Maruthancode (TN)

III

It all started with the caste census proposed by Nitish Kumar, which ultimately turned into parting ways after winning the state elections with much understanding. The social alliance of the RJD and the JD(U), though part of the social justice scheme on the ground, is antagonistic. Nitish Kumar gets support from the Mahadalit communities, many of whom are apprehensive of the muscular Yadav communities in the rural countryside. Whatever happened is a brazen betrayal of people of Bihar and the BJP.

M R Jayanthi Anandambal, Mumbai

IV

Nitish Kumar announcing his break-up with the BJP is seen by many as a setback to the saffron party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, the political dynamics in the state suggest the situation is not as bleak for the party which for long played second fiddle to Nitish Kumar's JD(U). Under Nitish Kumar's charge and towering political personality, BJP has failed to cultivate its own leader in the state. But now the party is free to groom someone from its stable. This break-up has opened a good opportunity for the BJP in Bihar to grow, while it opens up more seats for the BJP to contest in polls.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru