Equations of power

Sonia Gandhi, as the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party and the Congress president, is the de facto prime minister for the life of this Lok Sabha, irrespective of who stays at 7 Race Course Road. Her act of renunciation is, therefore, an abdication of responsibility and an unjustified exercise of power without responsibility.

— Vinod Chowdhury, Delhi

Sonia’s message

• I hope that with her refusal to accept the prime minister’s post,
Sonia Gandhi has finally proved that there is still an element of sincerity and selflessness in politics. Cultural fanatics go abroad and send their children abroad while not permitting one foreigner to settle down in India.

I sincerely hope that our country does not evolve into one of the biggest pseudo-democracies in the world with this kind of intolerance.

— John Alexander

• Sonia Gandhi’s decision not to accept prime ministership proves that she was not after that high post. Though it came a bit late, it was better late than never. It will also stop the personal attacks on her regarding her foreign origin.

— P. Karthik Ramaswamy

• Sonia Gandhi has cleverly stolen the limelight by refusing to accept the prime minister’s post. She could have made known her inner voice on May 13 itself, but she has used the period to prove she had the backing of Congressmen.
The country shall, however, be happy and relieved at the decision.

— S.G. Ramachandran

• A foreign born Christian lady has handed over the prime ministership of the world’s greatest democracy to a brilliant, honest, kind and caring (qualities he shares with Atal Bihari Vajpayee) Sikh gentleman, who will be sworn in by a Muslim president. That’s the vigour of Indian democracy and the greatness of secular India.

— Hansi Bish

Faraway votes

• We still have not evolved a foolproof system of casting votes by proxy for the police and paramilitary forces even now — as is the case of the defence forces in the 2004 elections for the first time.

It is time that facility was extended to paramilitary personnel as well as government employees on poll duty.

— Vinod Tuli

Reform the reforms

• I think Thomas L. Friedman is correct (‘Making India shine’, IE, May 22). There is frustration amongst the middle/lower income groups of India and this new prosperity is mainly shared by a tiny number of people. To rectify this, one of the first things we need to do is tackle corruption at all levels.

— E. Singh