MyVoice: Views of our readers 27th February 2024

Common man’s voice lost in wilderness

This refers to Ramu Sarma’s Bold Talk (Feb 24): “Common man’s ‘Man Ki Baat’ should be Modiji’s 3.0 agenda”. Agendas pain rosy pictures but in reality it is not so. The write-up covered many points to ponder over. Promises in the manifestos are very attractive. But conditions are not explained while making promises. Thereby, certain below poverty line category people who are not eligible for white cards on various reasons are leading hand to mouth lives. To cite a glaring example, EPS-95 retirees getting around Rs 1,000 pension since 2002 are a hapless lot. Congress government neglected this issue and PM Modi was implored in his 1.0 and 2.0 regimes. Numerable times this issue was taken to his notice through Man Ki Baat but in vain. Viksit Bharat and Atmanirbhar Bharat are not visualised in near sight and cannot be even after hundred years. Does Modi not know this fact? Every Indian is proud that Modi as PM is rated one of the best in the globe. But unfortunately he is deaf and dumb on several vital matters concerned to common man.

Dr NSR Murthy, Secunderabad

Time to infuse young blood into TS Cong

The buoyant Congress party in Telangana would naturally want to cash in on its sweet success in the assembly elections and project itself for the future. This grand old party of India earned for itself a new lease of life in Telangana and has every right to ‘exploit’ the favourable situation in the State for success in the Lok Sabha polls. It is no surprise to notice that there are more aspirants, including those defecting from other political parties, for the Congress party ticket to contest for all the Lok Sabha seats from Telangana. The CM is relatively young when compared to the veteran leaders like Jana Reddy, Hanumantha Rao, etc. Therefore, it is the right time to infuse young blood by selecting educated and experienced politicians to contest on Congress ticket. This would go a long way in building up the party in that State for future generations to come.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

Probe Dharani loopholes thoroughly

Sub: “CM orders probe into Dharani portal” (Feb 25). The move by the Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy, in ordering probe into Dharani portal of land records must be welcomed as several irregularities connected to land transfer have taken place during the rule of BRS; and the complaints of the people fell on the deaf ears of the administration then. There must be a systematic investigation and probe into the Dharani portal as several bigwigs of the BRS are believed to be involved in cases of illegal land grabbing activities that had led to the exodus of senior MLAs of the BRS who won the bye elections that proved the beginning of nemesis for the party.

S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

Cong should rush through alliances

It refers to “Cong-AAP talks on seat sharing in final stages.” In the good old days, Gandhis used to be the glue around which Congress revolved, but that is not the case anymore. The way a series of leaders have left the parties and the ones who were considered close to Gandhis, it would certainly hit the grand old party hard. And after what we have seen in Bihar and West Bengal, Congress has to stitch seat sharing with SP and AAP at the earliest. Seat sharing is done with SP in UP, now with AAP too it should be done in a day or two. It is in the larger interests of INDIA alliance and democracy that all seat sharing talks are done at the earliest because we need to have a robust opposition for the health of democracy as it keeps any ruling party on its toes. Otherwise a fragmented opposition will only make BJP’s task easier.

Bal Govind, Noida

Rise of racism against Indians abroad

Apropos “Indian mission strongly raises Janhavi Kandula’s case with US officials,” (THI, Feb 25). It’s highly disquieting that Seattle police officer who struck and killed Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula will not face any criminal charges due to lack of “sufficient” evidence as per the King county Prosecutor’s office. The deaths of half-a-dozen Indian-origin students since the beginning of this year are worrisome. Newly arrived Indians need to take precautions. There is also the reality of slow burn among some US citizens against people who look different from the whites and the African-Americans. Last year, the New York City Mayor had to assert that the ‘turban does not mean terrorism’ after recurring cases of hate crime against Sikhs. The White House’s remit must go beyond protecting the likes of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, designated as a terrorist by India, as it would be aware that the contribution of Indian immigrants to US economy and polity has been remarkable.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru