Letters to the editor

L.K. Advani got a chance to criticise the Congress Party because it has given in to the Left on the nuclear agreement.

Saffron quandary

8226;This refers to your editorial, 8216;Glass house8217;. L.K. Advani got a chance to criticise the Congress Party because it has given in to the Left on the nuclear agreement. But Advani himself is happy and relieved that the polls are postponed. He knows his party is in no shape to face an election. It has no leader, no issues, no ideology today. In the states where the BJP is in power, the party is riven by dissensions and in-fighting. Its president, Rajnath Singh, does not have any appeal beyond UP. He makes silly demands like asking Sonia Gandhi to shed the 8216;Gandhi8217; in her name. What is a Gandhi8217;s wife except Mrs Gandhi? Is not Rajnath Singh8217;s wife, Mrs Singh?

No doubt Advani is an able leader, but is he a leader for the whole of the BJP? The Hindutva forces that constitute the cadre do not thrust him. They didn8217;t even allow him to handle the Ram Sethu issue after the Ram Mandir fiasco. The BJP8217;s excuse for failing to implement its agenda was coalition compulsions. Then it should fight as a single party because the coalition compulsions will always be there.

8212; N. Kunju

Delhi

Look who8217;s weak

8226;It has become something of a fashion with L.K. Advani to term Manmohan Singh as the 8220;weakest prime minister8221; of the country. This is probably because the prime minister8217;s soft and gentle nature is taken as his weakness. Think about it. Manmohan Singh was dragged into politics by then prime minister, Narasimha Rao, when India had become bankrupt thanks to Yashwant Sinha who, as finance minister, had pledged India8217;s gold 8212; the same Sinha who now preaches to the government on how to manage the economy. It is this very 8220;weak8221; man who pulled India out of the morass and whose policies are paying dividends today. Advani, who was a thorn in the flesh of his prime minister, showed his valour by contributing to the demolition of the Babri Masjid 8212; a national shame.

8212; M.H. Nayak

Mumbai

Left turn

8226;VARGHESE K. George8217;s 8216;Biting the Ballot8217; makes one wonder whether the Congress is keen to delay the prospect of mid-term polls or whether it is afraid of losing the support of the comrades. These 8220;comrades8221;, in any case, are a peculiar breed of political fundamentalists. They can afford to lose the elections, because they will still remain in the limelight by resorting to negative tactics. Their opposition to the nuclear deal is only their old anti-

Americanism/anti-imperialism in a new bottle. They seem to believe that the country stands to lose its sovereignty if the N-deal is firmed up. As a sovereign nation, if circumstances force us to do so, we can always disown the deal. But the way the PM and the Congress president disowned their earlier stances on the deal, have seriously damaged the credibility of the Congress.

The Congress is wrong to elevate the Left to a high pedestal. Since it has yielded to the intimidating tactics of the Left, the Congress must now prepare itself to be dictated to by the comrades.

8212; Prasad Malladi

Basivireddypeta, AP

PM8217;s only option

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8226;This is with reference to the editorial, 8216;Coalition karma8217;. When Karunanidhi says: 8220;Frankly, the deal is not important, the government is8221;, it really means that the welfare of the people is secondary and the chair is primary. Under these circumstances Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has only got one option: to drive down to Rashtrapati Bhavan, along with Sonia Gandhi, and submit his letter of resignation to the president.

8212; Naval Langa

Ahmedabad