Opinion Letters to the editor

Kejriwal should focus on providing bijli, pani, sewer, sadak, swasthya and shiksha first than his demands for statehood for Delhi.

February 13, 2015 11:41 PM IST First published on: Feb 13, 2015 at 11:41 PM IST

Letter of the Week

A question of cash
NOW that the AAP is about to form government, some questions are being asked. People voted Arvind Kejriwal to power with a thumping majority and they have high expectations of him. His promise of freebies was a game changer and one hopes that he is able to keep it. But from where will he get the funds to implement these promises — pucca housing for all people living in slums, slashing VAT rates, halving electricity prices, providing a certain quantity of water for free to every household, employment for all, the installation of 10 lakh CCTV cameras for the safety of women, etc?
— N.R. Ramachandran
Chennai

First, the basics
APROPOS the editorial, ‘Two frames’ (IE, February 13), Arvind Kejriwal has made a good beginning by meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu, whose ministries control Delhi Police and the city-state’s land. He would need their full support to implement the AAP’s agenda. Of the issues Kejriwal discussed with Modi, his demands for statehood for Delhi and that control of Delhi Police be handed over to the state government grabbed headlines. Though Modi assured Kejriwal that he would consider these demands, amendments to the Constitution would be needed to see them through. But MPs — many of whom stay in Delhi for long periods — may not support Kejriwal’s demands as they might feel that their security could be compromised if the control of Delhi Police is shifted out of the Union home ministry. Kejriwal should focus on providing bijli, pani, sewer, sadak, swasthya and shiksha first.
— M.C. Joshi
Lucknow

With friend like this
THIS refers to ‘BJP “balloon punctured”, Opposition in high spirits’ (IE, February 11). In the backdrop of the BJP’s humiliating defeat in the recent Delhi assembly elections, it is necessary to examine the role that the BJP’s parent body, the RSS, played in the rout. For several weeks prior to the elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat repeatedly asserted that India was a “Hindu nation”, antagonising and alienating two major minority communities, Muslims and Christians. These communities were already largely averse to the BJP because of its symbiotic relationship with the RSS. But Bhagwat’s strident public proclamations made the situation worse. The VHP and its “ghar wapsi” campaign only compounded the damage. The BJP is clearly in a bind. Its leadership cannot publicly dissociate itself from the RSS or repudiate its “Hindu nation” theory. This is perhaps a major factor for the BJP’s electoral disaster. Unless the RSS desists from its divisive agenda, Modi’s “sabka saath, sabka vikas” will remain hollow. The RSS must understand that even a large section of Hindus
will not accept its “Hindu nation” sloganeering.
— M. Ratan
Delhi

The American dream?
THE spine-chilling assault on a 57-year-old Indian man by the police in Alabama was shocking. The victim has been paralysed due to the incident. It’s good that the Indian government has taken note and ordered an inquiry. This dastardly act by men in uniform must be condemned.
— Abinash D. Choudhury
Bhubaneswar

# Letters to the editor