The BJP in its present and manifold manifestation is invincible (Sweet Saffron, Dec 15). First and foremost, it’s a party for the Indian upper class; it’ll push their interests to the fore. As India liberalises and privatises, the resident and non-resident Indians will split the spoils. Then, the BJP is a motif of patriotism and the great Hindu tradition for the Indian middle class in a world where globalisation is causing far too rapid a change and profound identity crises. For the lower classes, it has Ayodhya, the communal card and upward mobility courtesy its alliance with the Hindu upper class. It has something for everybody. What more can you ask for?
Anuradha Kalhan, Mumbai
The creditable and unprecedented victory of the BJP in three states is indicative of things to come in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Its convincing win should induce its detractors to keep their own house in order and find less faults with the BJP.
K.R. Sudhir, on e-mail
I was never a great fan of the BJP but looking at the nda government’s performance in the last five years, I’ve come to admire them. India has a better say and image globally, Indians have reasons to be proud and they can afford to dream big. The BJP has some vision for India, whether out of hardline patriotism or fundamentalism, unlike the Congress which was in power for 40 years without a formidable opposition. I also can’t understand why the Indian media still treats Sonia and her children like royal progeny. Why do most reporters hesitate to ask them rough questions as they do with other politicians?
Sunil N. Rangaiah, Nanjangud, Karnataka
The BJP’s stupendous 3-1 win shows that nothing succeeds like success. It also reveals how off the ground reality our secular media is with regard to the growing irrelevance of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. The only reason the Congress could continue in power was because of the assassination of the three Gandhis, the Mahatma in 1948, Indira in 1984 and Rajiv in 1991 and the absence of any alternative. Unless the party infuses young blood and chalks out a definite agenda, it will soon become a part of history.
Vidya Sagar, Delhi
It’s time for the Congress think-tank to sit back and conduct a post-mortem of their debilitating defeat. Unless they take leave of their anachronistic methods and let go of the Nehru-Gandhi dependency syndrome, it will only have more defeats in store.
K. Balaji, Chennai
Much has been made of having three women CMs, but it’s the character of the person that determines his or her ability to deliver the goods. Men or women, both can be equally competent or corrupt. Just because one’s a woman doesn’t mean there’s more honesty.
M. Kumar, New Delhi
The BJP seems to be the best thing to have happened to India. Its second-generation leaders are suave, glib talking and media savvy, precisely what’s needed to steer the country ahead.
A. Dev, Bangalore
The BJP has surpassed (surprised?) itself by winning two additional states besides MP. A combination of caste factors and incumbency worked in their favour. This only shows that till the last ballot is cast, no one can be sure of the outcome, opinion polls notwithstanding. The Congress should take this as a lesson and the party should work hard to regain people’s confidence. Unless factionalism ends, the party’s hopes of capturing power will remain a pipe dream.
D.B.N. Murthy, Bangalore
That was some good advice for the Congress by Vinod Mehta (Sonia, Please Wake Up). But contrary to his dubbing the BJP’s victory as Vajpayee’s "personal triumph", it was a joint effort of the Hindutva forces. As for differences of opinion, they’re bound to exist in any family. That still leaves no scope for the demoralised Congress to exploit these differences, faced as it is with personality clashes within.
K.G. Acharya, Mumbai
Vinod Mehta was bang-on. While the Congress apparently refused to learn from the Gujarat debacle, the BJP, commendably, was the epitome of hard work and discipline. Vajpayee, Jaitley and Mahajan held more than 150 rallies between them. Smriti Irani and Hema Malini pulled crowds too. In contrast, Sonia Gandhi, the only Congress leader to do so, held some 25-odd rallies. Where was the competition?
Ishtyaque Ansari, Bhopal
Right said, Mr Mehta. Priyanka queered the pitch by running to Amethi and making a ‘heroic’ show of helping the poor, thus alienating the bsp. Such childish enthusiasm is counter-productive in present-day politics. As for Sonia’s coterie, it’s bankrupt of ideas. There’s poor Jaipal Reddy, an even poorer Pranab Mukherjee who has never stood for an election, and Arjun Singh who spent his better days sabotaging the elections of party rivals. Them, versus Mahajan, Jaitley and Venkaiah, who fine-tuned their electoral machine.
K.T. Chary, Chennai
What’s the difference between secularists and pseudo-secularists? The Congress, for instance, is pseudo-secularist because:
1) If a temple plays its songs too loudly and people in the neighbourhood complain, the police can come and ask them to turn off the speakers, but
2) If a mosque does the same, the police claim helplessness because these people are "minorities".
Secularists like the BJP enforce one standard across India. Pseudos like the Congress have one measuring stick for one community and a different one for another.
Vivek Thuppil, Philadelphia, US
For long, cynics like Vinod Mehta have blamed the BJP for all the ills in the country. But now after the rout of the Congress he seems a changed person if his Delhi Diary is anything to go by. I quote, "followers of this column will know the BJP is not my favourite formation, but I am beginning to feel a tinge of sympathy for the men and women with a difference". Thank you, Mr Mehta, for listening to your inner voice and acknowledging the BJP. But why ask Sonia to wake up in your editorial? Let her sleep.
Raj Bharadwaj, Mumbai
Vinod Mehta seems to think Ajit Jogi is a talented tribal leader. I can’t imagine how he can be so taken in by the guy. Jogi’s entire family is viewed as corrupt throughout Chhattisgarh and MP and he’s known to be ruthless against those who’ve dared to oppose him. Moreover, he’s hardly a tribal, he’s perhaps a converted Satnami (one of the scheduled castes).
Sunayana Sengupta, Calcutta
Vinod Mehta’s brilliant editorial wrongly describes Ajit Jogi as a tribal leader. He should have been described as Ajit Jogi, an energetic scheduled caste leader masquerading as a tribal leader.
S. Ramesan, on e-mail
Had the Congress won in MP with a three per cent margin, I’m sure Prem Shankar Jha would not have spoken like this (The Suffrage Masses) and written about the triumph of secularism over Hindutva. How long can the Indian elite delude themselves like this?
R. Srivatsan, Newport, US
Prem Shankar Jha’s feeble attempts to find a figleaf to cover up the Congress’ humungous loss is laughable. A few more articles in this vein and Jha would have succeeded in driving all his readers to the BJP fold. Well done, sir, keep it up for the sake of the BJP.
Avinash Akshay, Bangalore
Vinod Mehta sounds as though his reason for existence as a journalist is to shed tears for a political party that is a caricature of its past. He should probably join the Italian National Congress.
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Delhi
So at last Vinod Mehta has shaken off his delusions!
L.K. Balasubramanian, New Jersey, US
Winning an election is not the end. Good governance is.
Madhu Singh, Ambala Cantt
I totally agree with what Sandipan Deb says in his column No, Mr Minister! (Dec 15). The iits and iims are respected worldwide because they’re autonomous and free from government control. If M.M. Joshi is allowed to get away with this, it’ll be a black day in the history of our education system. We have to prevent the hostile takeover of these institutes by the government.
Nina N., Madison, US
What we need is to reduce the subsidies given to higher education, especially for engineering and medicine. Thanks to these, we have engineering graduates lining up for railway linemen’s jobs. There should be no subsidies and reservations. Merit should be the sole criterion and competitive bank loans should be available to students. And till the government keeps giving subsidies, it should make it compulsory for these grads to serve in villages for at least two years. Let them pay India back what they’ve taken from her in the form of subsidised education. Why should developed nations be allowed the benefit of our subsidies?
Arti Godara, Mumbai
In her review Line of Uncontrol (Dec 15), Madhu Jain seems to have read only about 20 per cent of my book. She leads readers to believe that the entire focus of the book is on contemporary Indian art and that its sole purpose is to demolish its "sentinels". The book actually is on art, not artists, and its main purpose is to look—in a historical context—at art’s relationship with other spheres like politics and science. She’s also contradictory. On the one hand, she suggests that my "swipes" are cryptic—"almost hidden in discourse, often weighed down by eggheads of times past and present"—on the other she notes "my remarkable bluntness". As to her crack on eggheads, ouch! Let some of India and the world’s finest minds stand up and be counted. Finally, Jain’s put words in my mouth with regard to M.F. Husain. I am not his admirer. I’ve merely discussed his considerable talents most of which I believe him to have squandered.
Juliet Reynolds, New Delhi
I couldn’t agree more with Vinod Mehta on the phenomenal radio essayist Alistair Cooke (Delhi Diary, Dec 8). Cooke’s keen sense of observation, combined with his lively sense of the ludicrous, have been a solace for me in the rain-sodden, reef-ringed and rock-bound Lakshadweep where I was posted. I’ve been a Cooke addict from 1964 to 1978, having listened to his letters from America and even read some of his collected letters. May this nonagenarian live to see a century and more.
P.R. Krishna Narayanan, Kochi
The introduction of new agricultural crops like vanilla, anata and safed musli are indeed a boon to farmers, in the face of declining prices for coffee, tea and pepper (The Big Scoop, Dec 15). The farmers have been having sleepless nights in order to protect their produce from thieves, who’re resorting to high-tech methods to steal the crop despite electrified fences and watchmen.
S. Lakshmi, on e-mail
