MyVoice: Views of our readers 13th September 2022

SC to take up key constitutional matter

The Supreme Court is likely to hear a case filed by Dr Subramanian Swamy, which is related to inclusion of words 'Secular' and 'Socialism' during the period of emergency in the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. As the matter is pending in the court we cannot discuss the merits and demerits of case. We know that for any introduction of Constitutional amendment, the main fundamental concept is whether the consent of common man is taken and how public opinion or consent is important I quote following four cases. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called the joint parliament Session to discuss the Hindu Code Bill even though there was no opposition to this bill as he believed that in parliament democracy public opinion/will was must otherwise the democracy would have no meanings. In NDA-1 two times ordinance was issued on Land Acquisition but the govt failed to satisfy the other parties that what will be status of rental land occupants and ultimately the government did not introduce the bill in parliament. Third instance was Judicial Appointment and that bill was passed by both houses of parliament as well as by many states also but it was challenged in the Supreme Court and the government lost the case as it told the Supreme Court that they had not taken any public opinion in this regard. The last and recent example is repeal of three agriculture bills where public opinion was missing. During emergency what was the fate of common man's will we know better.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

Inherent inability to coalesce

Apropos editorial "When will the Opposition get it right?" (The Hans India, Sept 12). Both the ruling party and the Opposition seem to have already begun preparations for the big battle in 2024. From opposition side, of late, Nitish Kumar has held meetings with several like-minded leaders opposed to the ruling BJP to form a opposition front against rulingparty. But the billion dollar question is whether the leaders suppress their egos, mutual hostilities and clashing ambitions. Given the track record of such a front characterised by ingrained ability to function as a team, notwithstanding, Nitish Kumar's efforts a joint anti-BJP front may not still materialise. It will still be hard for the Opposition to convince the voter that a hotchpotch coalition can provide a stable government. Also, the lack of a prime ministerial candidate against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hurt the Opposition for sure. Of course, nevertheless the daunting task, a vibrant democracy needs a constructive Opposition, for that all must strive to make it possible.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

II

When there are already a surfeit of political parties with different ideology in the fray, KCR launching a new party at the national level with a singular objective to oust the NDA government reveals that it is all about power over faith and power over principles than ideology. Notwithstanding the opposition front has been a non-starter and a failure after its launch with fanfare in the past, parties working extra time in building electoral alliances again may face the same fate due to lack of consistency on issues of seat sharing and in the absence as to who would lead the front? Further, in the same breath some of the parties taking a tough stand not to have any truck with Congress raises a big question whether such a move can fetch dividends to catapult the front to reach the magic figure of 272 at a time when we are witnessing a complex election scenario suffering not only from the perennial maladies of social change but also from lack of electoral integrity and a persistent climate of mistrust that is undermining the legitimacy of the political system.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

III

Telangana Chief Minister KCR is reported to gave decided to float his own political national party to counter the saffron party in the coming 2024 general elections thus expressing his desire for the PM's chair in the event of a fractured mandate. The unity among the opposition is losing strength daily. Pawar is an outside contender. Mamata, Rahul and Nitish are already in the race. Maha Ghatbandhan was formed last time and but in vain. BJP got more seats in 2019 than in 2014. Unity among the opposition is largely lacking. First the oppositional leaders should introspect and select a common agreeable candidate for the PM's post. They should also win the confidence of the people by promising a time-bound manifesto, with more stress on development and employment generation. Otherwise 2019 is sure to repeat.

Sravana Ramachandran, Chennai.

GPS fixed to pelican's wings in Kokkare Bellur

Mandya: A team of scientists from Forest Research Institute(FRI) , Dehradun, has succeeded in installing GPS on Pelicans (Hejjarle in Kannada ) at Kokkare Bellur birds sanctuary in Maddur taluk of the district with the aim of studying the bird's habitat, its diet and its movement route. For the first time in the country, the installation of a special GPS track for the pelican bird has taken place, and through this, Kokkare Bellur bird sanctuary has witnessed a historic day. The GPS track brought from Greece will be helpful in tracking the bird's travel route.

'Scam allegations during Siddaramaiah period will be probed'

Mysuru: BJP state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel said that all the scams that happened during the tenure of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister of Karnataka will be thoroughly probed.

Speaking to media persons here on Monday he said that there will be a detailed investigation into all the scams. 'Siddaramaiah is trying to downplay Arkavathy Layout and Power Ministry scams. But we will go ahead with the investigation. The Congress leader never bothered to order a probe into all the scams. After the probe, the truth will come out," he declared.

The BJP chief said, "Our government ordered a probe into the PSI recruitment scam as soon as it was reported. We will not spare the culprits. Siddaramaiah talks of justice, but why did he not order a probe into the alleged scams? We believe in clean administration and all the guilty will be punished."