Over to Bollywood!

Don’t insult us

• Apropos of your editorial ‘Laloo, pack-up time’ (IE, February 28), you are absolutely right when you say that it is time for Laloo to go out of office in Bihar after the results of these elections. Any come-back by Laloo, and any attempt to lend support to him in doing so in the name of secularism will be an insult to the
electorate.

— Subbaraman Ahmedabad

Congress shown up

• This refers to your editorial ‘Sonia, analyse this’ (IE, February 28). The electorates in Bihar and Jharkhand have dealt a well deserved kick to Sonia and the Congress. Instead of concentrating on implementing the CMP and programmes for the ‘‘aam aadmi’’, the Congress was more interested in undercutting its alliance partners, especially a staunch ally like Laloo Yadav who had stood by it in difficult times. Sonia relied on rusted veterans like Arjun Singh who can’t win even his own home state for the Congress. Hope Sonia and Congress will learn the appropriate lessons and concentrate on doing something for the poor in India’s villages which NDA consistently ignored in their rule.

— Harish H.V. Bangalore

• Your editorial hits the nail on the head. The Congress had a faulty strategy to grab power in Bihar and Jharkhand. Truly, the results indicate that both the states had serious objections to accepting the UPA’s claim to power, particularly the Congress, a party that has started to think that it can now grab everything. The party needs to modernise. Perhaps this debacle will be a blessing in
disguise for the Congress.

— Bidyut K. Chatterjee Faridabad

Survey this

• The Economic Survey 2004-05 which envisaged a GDP growth of 6.9 per cent gives much reason to cheer about the economy. Seven per cent growth on the backdrop of 8 per cent is no doubt an excellent performance. But the agricultural sector still remains an area of concern. While the growth in the services and industrial sector shows that there is an increase in public spending which in turn will boost business confidence, the decrease in the agricultural sector shows that the promised benefits are still out of reach of the common man.

— Siddhartha Raj Guha Jabalpur

Paswan’s call

• Ramvilas Paswan holds the key to government formation in Bihar. But he must remember that most of the votes that he got were anti-Laloo. And now, if in the name of secularism, he goes with Laloo it would mean betraying the Bihari people.

— Preeti Sharma Patna