• Pamela Philipose has accurately assessed the mindset of the Congress members in her column, ‘‘Congress: In the throes of a Rahulution’’. The Congressmen have a typical sycophantic attitude and ‘‘slavish mentality’’ of leaving everything to the ‘‘high command’’ to decide. The party survives on a personality — or rather Nehru-Gandhi family — cult rather than any ideology.Earlier, senior party leaders prayed at the doorstep of Sonia Gandhi to take over the party. Never mind the fact that she had no political grooming or any political achievement. Now, the focus has shifted on ‘‘heir apparent’’, Rahul Gandhi, who they are shamelessly hailing as the ‘‘rising sun of the nation’’. All this exposes the political and intellectual bankruptcy of the Congress, the grand old party which once led the country to independence.Ved Guliani, Hisar• In her column, Pamela Philipose has not only called a spade a spade, but also taken potshots at the disgusting behaviour of the Congress sycophants. All of them suffer from blurred vision. Thank you for the candid write-up.M K D Prasada Rao, Ghaziabad• The political mantle being passed on from parent to child has become an accepted tradition in the country. When Rajiv Gandhi was pitchforked into the political arena after his mother’s death, he did not have any political experience to write home about. On the other hand, Rahul is clearly being trained and groomed to occupy the country’s top position. However, compared to some of his counterparts, his political demeanour leaves much to be desired.V P Damodar, Pune• While Tavleen Singh’s ‘‘Fifth Column’’ is a well-respected and widely-read column, it has of late become fairly predictable. Every Sunday, one can safely wager that the column will contain a critical reference to Sonia Gandhi, alongwith a mention of Manmohan Singh in the same vein. The good doctor’s only fault is that he was hand-picked by Sonia to head the government after widespread protests from the Opposition, including a certain BJP leader threatening to get her head shaved if Sonia became PM. The fact that Manmohan is the best man available for the job and Sonia did the nation proud by selecting an intellectual and honest man for the top post does not seem to matter to Tavleen. It seems that some of the NDA’s frustration at its unexpected poll defeat has rubbed off on her.M K Bajaj, Chandigarh• This is with reference to Soli Sorabjee’s column, ‘‘Soliloquies’’. While men and women are equals, women are unfortunately treated as more than equal. They call themselves the weaker sex and avail all the privileges and benefits. In most matters, they get preferential treatment. They get reservations in jobs and are now trying for a quota in Parliament too. They have a separate queue in most counters. They get concession in stamp duty in Delhi. They get higher tax exemption limit from the Income Tax department. They have a separate ladies’ compartment in trains. They have a lower age limit for availing senior citizens’ benefits at most places — 60 years instead of 65 years despite the fact that the average life expectancy of a woman exceeds that of a man.Mahesh Kumar, DelhiWrite to yourvoice@expressindia.com
