Opinion No third option

With the national elections looming,talk of a Third Front has been revived.

The Indian Express

April 6, 2013 12:32 AM IST First published on: Apr 6, 2013 at 12:32 AM IST

No third option

With the national elections looming,talk of a Third Front has been revived. Earlier,the Left would take the initiative and the Third Front thrived in years marked by the decline of the BJP and the Congress. The Left provided ideological space for other regional parties. Things have changed. With the two big parties performing better,the Third Fronts space for leverage has shrunk. Today,the Left has dimmed and possibly been replaced by a mercurial Trinamool Congress,which has a hard time allying with anyone. The Samajwadi Partys overtures to the BJP could jeopardise its minority and Dalit votes. A potential Third Front might not like to be identified with the SP,in that case. The revival of an old-style Third Front will be difficult. It will simply become a waiting room for parties before they head to other political destinations.

R.Narayanan,Ghaziabad

Reboot or rewind?

THIS refers to the editorial Rahuls reboot (IE,April 5). Rahul Gandhis speech at the annual CII meet has been disappointing. It was along the same lines as his chintan shivir speech at Jaipur. Only it lacked some of the optimism of Jaipur. He was frank about the failure of the present system of governance. He spoke of inclusive governance and the need to meet the aspirations of millions of young Indians. Rahul Gandhis remarks about there being no man on a charger who can solve all the problems has been seen as a swipe at Narendra Modi. It may,in fact,be a warning to members of the Congress who nurture hopes of Rahul Gandhi taking the reins of both party and government. His deprecating remarks about the role of dynasty and his advocating a more decentralised power structure may not go down well with members of his party either.

N.Ramamurthy

Chennai.

Korea alert

APROPOS the editorial Koreas at odds (IE,April 5),North Koreas threats should not be dismissed as mere rhetoric. The editorial rightly observes This time,Pyongyang has a new,inexperienced dictator,someone who might act in the heat of the moment and could potentially trigger a nuclear war. I fully agree with the editorial,that the US and China,close to to South Korea and North Korea respectively,should de-escalate tensions and bring North Korea to the table for talks.

R.K. Kapoor

Chandigarh

Justice delayed

THIS refers to Justice,more fair and timely by Maneesh Chhibber( IE,April 5). The government and the judiciary should work in tandem to ensure justice for litigants. The selection of judges and pendency in courts are the two core issues that must be addressed. It is highly important to ensure a transparent and accountable judiciary that is responsive to society. Merely increasing the number of judges will not address the pendency in courts unless genuine cases are filtered from the frivolous ones,and cumbersome procedures are streamlined.

Ganapathi Bhat

Akola