Modi146;s enormity

While the Election Commission might have sent a 8216;stinker8217; to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and judges like Khare...

8226; While the Election Commission might have sent a 8216;stinker8217; to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and judges like Khare, Verma and Sachar might have similarly strongly criticised the CM, and even the PM may have warned the 8220;poor8221; Gujaratis that only God can save them 8216;If you against Modi Government8230;8217;, nothing can undo the gross damage Modi has done to Gujarat8217;s election process through his fiery and communally disturbing speeches in Godhra and other places, calling upon fanatic and frenzied crowds to 8220;hang8221; Afzal Guru. He justified the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, whose case is sub-judice at the Supreme Court level 8216;Modi thumbs nose at SC8230;8217;.

Thousands and thousands of persons, almost all of them eligible voters in the forthcoming Gujarat polls, who attended the Modi election meetings and shouted back 8220;kill him, kill him8221;, would obviously remain unaffected in spite of the EC stinker, the judges8217; reactions and the PM8217;s warning. The fact is that the damage is already done. No action by the EC or reactions of dignitaries can restore status quo ante. Things will change only if the BJP publicly disowns and opposes Modi8217;s communal stances.

8212; Sameer Kumar

Mumbai

Hardsell Gujarat

8226; Coomi Kapoor is wrong in her perception, 8216;Modi vs BJP that the party would lose in the future if it sticks to Moditva. It is the other way round. The BJP has suffered losses because it had put its three most important national issues 8212; Ram Mandir, Article 370 and the Common Civil Code 8212; in the backburner. Vajpayee tried to put on the Muslim skull cap along with the dhoti and this spelled the party8217;s doom. The hard reality is that Muslims and Christians will never vote en bloc for the BJP, even if the entire BJP top brass were to start wearing caps or crosses. The BJP should adopt Moditva with full ferocity if it wants to come to power and save the nation.

8212; A.K. Sharma

Chandigarh

Karat fires a blank

8226; This refers to 8216;CPM8217;s latest to UPA8230;8217;. Prakash Karat thinks it is clever to allow the government to participate in the IAEA talks and at the same time threaten to pull it down at the end of this month, if the Indo-US n-deal is allowed to proceed. If he wanted to give the Gujarat voters the impression that the government is stable, then he should have talked about pulling down the government after the voting. Or did he think that his party members were so disciplined that what was said at the party forum would not be leaked to the press? The CPM has omitted its objections to the agreement such as attaining self-sufficiency in nuclear energy without outside help, getting help from countries other than US, etc, and at present harps only on overdependence on the US. Now it is clear that no country of the NSG, including Russia, will supply nuclear fuel or facilities unless the Indo-US agreement is through. If by pulling down the UPA government and forcing an election, Karat thinks he could increase the CPM8217;s strength in Parliament, he is living in a fool8217;s paradise. Karat may not be knowing what is going on in the Kerala CPM because, although a Malayali, he doesn8217;t speak Malayalam and doesn8217;t follow the state8217;s politics.The Kerala CPM is riven with personality cults and corruption and is sure to lose the next election. As for West Bengal, although the CM is a moderniser, his government has got a bad name because of its defective strategies. It is unlikely therefore that the party will do as well as it did last time.

8212; N. Kunju

Delhi