Touching tribute

8226; This is one of the best tributes paid to any Indian politician.

8212; Rajnish Nair

8226; Shekhar Gupta8217;s sincerity of thought, mature outlook and fluidity of
expression made his article a joy to read.

8212; K.K. Kapur

Poll vaults

8226; The results of Election 2004 have come as a big surprise. Even opinion and exit polls failed to gauge the sentiments of the silent majority who asserted themselves this time.

BJP leaders8217; talk of India shining, feel good factor and stability could not satisfy the aspirations of the common man and the youth who have been suffering on account of poverty, corruption and unemployment.

No doubt, the popularity graph of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister remained high, but this could not save the party from collapse. Also, a large number of partners in the NDA proved to be very weak, as is indicated by their poor performance in these elections.

Now Congress leader Sonia Gandhi must demonstrate maturity and wisdom. Here the elected 8216;8216;others8217;8217; 8212; consisting of MPs from the Left parties, Samajwadi Party and the BSP 8212; are bound to play a crucial role. There is likely to be a lot of bargaining but through the spirit of accommodation things can be settled. Not petty personal gains but the national interest must be given top priority. India needs a stable government at the Centre.

8212; K.L. Batra

Who8217;d have known?

8226; So all the psephologists, pollsters and astrologers got their forecasts completely wrong! Here are some lessons from these elections. Choose friends with care. The NDA should have acted decisively against authoritarian rule when its allies were being harassed in Tamil Nadu and should not have let go of the DMK. Similarly, they should have forged alliances in other states like Uttar Pradesh.

Vindictive politics and revengeful actions seldom pay, as is seen in the reverses suffered by political parties in power in Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Similarly, the defeat of Murli Manohar Joshi could be due to 8216;8216;I am8217;8217; overshadowing 8216;8216;IIM8217;8217;.
Ground realities are important. Sitting MPs must nurture their constituencies even if they are living high-profile lives. Could our foreign minister have been foreign in his homeland?

8212; Raghubir Singh, Pune

No scapegoats

8226; How dare the administration of George W. Bush blame the abuse of Iraqi
detainees on 8220;the wrongdoing of a few8221;!

From Bagram in Afghanistan, to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and now Abu Ghraib in Iraq, there has been systematic mistreatment of detainees. How can the US ask a country to accept its democratic influence and liberating law enforcement when it has treated the people with such depravity?

Abu Ghraib was infamous under Saddam Hussein. Now it has regained its despicable reputation. Bravo, President Bush, for keeping the tradition alive.

8212; Mark Rebello, Bangalore