Verdict 2009 has rendered the question ‘Can They Be Friends Again?’ redundant. If they could have the chance now, the Left definitely would. They are masters of the art of having their cake and eating it too!
Manish Banerjee, Calcutta
Kudos to Deepak Sharma for his interesting cover. Maybe there’s a hidden message in the montage: look carefully, and Sonia Gandhi appears to be saying, ‘Jai ho!’
Dr M.K. Bajaj, Mohali
I guess the cover photograph was inspired by Sholay. And like the character who dies at the end of the film, Prakash Karat too has died a political death.
Ganesan, on e-mail
The historically anti-Congress Communists were never its natural allies. The UPA’s decisive win has provided it an excellent chance to dissociate itself entirely from them.
P.P. Sethumadhavan, Bangalore
Karat should have realised that the UPA had done a reasonably good job for five years. The Congress had even acknowledged the role the Left had played in steering the government. But Karat squandered all that and now has to bite the dust.
Dr H. Arun, Chennai
The Congress has to decide whether it wants a secular government, said Karat. Why do our politicians see secularism as the panacea for all ills? Why can’t they talk about economic, social or moral development as blocks for nation-building?
Dilip Mahanty, Sydney
Marxists grazing around in New Delhi’s power circuit was a grotesque aberration, one we’re rid of, thankfully. Karat actually had the gall to tell Karan Thapar in an interview that confidence was created in the whole country due to the party’s governance in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura!
K.S.C. Nair, Indianapolis
Ah, so Manmohan Singh is PM again. And why not, he’s still loyal to Sonia and Rahul, and the remote control will still be firmly with them.
Mahesh Kumar, New Delhi
This has been a momentous election not just for us in Orissa but nationally as well. In my home state, bjd’s sweep was expected due to Naveen Patnaik’s credibility, the disarray in the local Congress and BJP clinched it. Nationally, it is heartening to see how the Indian public has given Manmohan Singh a free hand, clipped the wings of the RJD, Left, LJP, SP, BSP, TDP and AIADMK, and given opportunist prime ministerial aspirants the boot. It’s clear that the Indian electorate wants good governance not just at the Centre but also in the states. It doesn’t care which party this comes from. Narendra Modi, Sheila Dikshit, Shivraj Chauhan, Nitish Kumar, ysr, Naveen Patnaik, Omar Abdullah have all been rewarded alike despite contradicting ideologies. Now, if only those Congress sycophants don’t foist Rahul on us as PM and Mamata in Bengal manages to rein in her hysteria.
B.N. Acharya, Cuttack
There will be hundreds of explanations on the Congress’s powerful return but the fact remains that people want performing governments, not opportunist or weak ones. If the Congress too falls prey to such dubious tendencies, it too may be wringing its hands soon.
R.J. Khurana, Bhopal
It is encouraging to note the decisive mandate the Indian electorate has given Manmohan Singh and the snub it has dealt to the third and fourth fronts with their plethora of self-styled leaders fancying themselves as PM!
V.S. Ganeshan, Bangalore
Apropos Vinod Mehta’s editorial No Hate Politics, This is India (Election Ext ra, May 25), it’s time to celebrate the defeat of fanatics who bring disrepute to Hinduism, and know nothing about its vastness, tolerance and its many philosophical underpinnings.
Hari Kumar, Coventry, UK
It is a spectacular victory for the Congress’s blatant politics of minority appeasement.
S.S. Nagaraj, Bangalore
I’m glad to know that pseudo-seculars are a majority in India.
P. Ganapathi, Chennai
Once again, India has surrendered to the Nehru family. It is sad, very sad.
Jaleel Khan, Lucknow
Ashok Malik’s commentary is commendable (Time the BJP changed its Hard/Software). The BJP should probably make him its chief strategic advisor.
Arif Jameel, Dubai
The TN voters seem to have followed the national trend of punishing smaller parties for their opportunistic swings (Eelam, Freebies and Farces). The mdmk and pmk, who had grown too big for their boots, deserved this kick on the backside. The aiadmk too was punished for Jayalalitha’s prime ministerial ambitions.
Sabyasachi Ray, Calcutta
The dmk may have just about held on to its shaky fortress, but that does not mean much for the Sri Lankan Tamils. The Sri Lankan government has wiped out the ltte but unless it genuinely addresses people’s grievances, another avatar may emerge in a more virulent form. Insurgencies have never been won with the gun. Even the Khalistanis were liquidated after the Punjab government won over Jat Sikh cooperation.
A.K. Ghai, Mumbai
Poor Dr Ramadoss and his pmk. Both father and son needed to cool their heels for a bit, both had become too arrogant. The people of India (and its Parliament) also badly needed a break from the sycophant Mani Shankar Aiyar and his turgid, self-righteous talk.
T.K. Sandilya, Chennai
I’m happy at the drubbing the cpi(m) got as it would deny the Left the leverage to blackmail the government with unreasonable demands (A Craving for Change). However, I’m not sure if Mamata will be any better. Even if the tmc-Congress combine gets a majority in the state poll, with a powerful Left opposition in place, Mamata’s chance of achieving anything meaningful is slim. If Bengal wants large industries that can create a large volume of jobs, it needs to acquire farmland as no company would agree to locate factories in remote fallow land sans infrastructure, and most of Bengal land is cultivable. I doubt she’d be able to deliver on the aspirations of the young generation given her retrograde policies so far. I wish the state had a Sheila Dikshit.
A. Dutta, Los Angeles
Mamata is a dormant volcano that can erupt sans warning. The Congress better take care.
Khushi Ram, Ambala Cantt
Let us hope Mamata does not win the state elections! Mamata as CM will be infinitely worse than the cpi(m)). And I am not even pro-cpi(m)!
A.N. Banerjee, Newcastle
The anti-Mamata tendencies among the intellectual elite, evident in the tone of your article, is amazing. Her win might upset people in Nandan but she is a blessing for rural Bengal.
M. Chowdhuri, Ahmedabad
What makes Mallika Sarabhai think she is important enough to get a response from Advani? She is just a parasite who has lived off of a great father’s legacy and wealth. She is an embarrassment to Gujaratis who have rightly shunned her. She should stick to dancing.
Anu, Ujjain
Mallika Sarabhai should first ask herself all these questions.
S. Madhekar, Pune
The NDA received a good drubbing in these elections except in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, MP and Karnataka. Gullible folks here perhaps still believe that a temple will be constructed at the Babri masjid site.
Kalavati, Agra
I wish Jason Overdorf—a tourist and a hanger-on in India-turned-stringer had spared us his patronising drivel.
Gaurav, on e-mail
Those who have gone through the agonies of Partition can well empathise with the plight of the Sikhs in Swat valley (Pir Baba’s Orphans, May 18). The Sikhs have lived in this region for ages, speak Pashto, and are culturally close to the Pashtuns. The Taliban are an aberration created by the cia and the ISI. Now, they have become a cancer for their own creators. Through its follies, Pakistan has lost India’s goodwill. Otherwise, this was a good time to fight this common enemy together and seek harmony in the region.
Dr R.N. Kohli, New Delhi
The Punjabis have long dominated politics in Pakistan, making the Pashtuns, Baluchis and Sindhis feel left out. One would think a marginalised group like the Pashtuns would have felt some sympathy for the Sikhs of Swat, bleeding from the Taliban spear in its side. But now one can be sure that where the Pashtuns come to be in power, they too will marginalise the Sikhs.
Prakash, on e-mail
How come all the boys shown in the photo accompanying your article on Sikhs fleeing Swat valley have cropped hair? I guess that’s part of being treated as ‘gul’. Who are you trying to fool?
Ashok Kaul, US
For once, India did the right thing in Nepal (The Nudge That Spilt the Spleen, May 18). If Maoists had their way and got thousands of their cadres absorbed in the army, the Nepalese army would have become a People’s Liberation Army on the lines of China. Then, instead of taking orders from a general or the government, it would have become an arm of the Maoist party.
Rajesh Chandra, Phoenix
All through its long and tortuous relationship with India, Nepal has behaved like a petulant child who somehow is never pleased with the goodies its doting elders lavish upon it. A small landlocked country has been favoured with the most generous trading preferences and allowed access to sea routes through multiple Indian pathways, for nothing in return. India gives it considerable aid, trains its army and allows its inhabitants to reside freely in our country. Yet, there are cries of outrage from all and sundry in Nepal at imagined Indian "interference" and "insult" at the drop of a hat. The perception in Nepal is that it acts as a buffer against China and so India will continue to humour it despite all provocations. It is high time India calls Nepal’s bluff and refuses to kowtow to its whims.
Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai
By playing big brother, India will only alienate others. It should first establish itself as an economic and technological power to reckon with and establish an infrastructure for others to admire. It doesn’t take more than a decade these days. Then it should shed its present arrogance and work with amity. Display of humility by the powerful always works wonders. If India exudes genuine concern and seeks a role in the development of neighbours and trade with them, it will only win friends. Our politicians never fail to criticise US foreign policy. But they have better relations with their neighbours than we do with ours.
T.K. Sandilya, Chennai
I loved Mukul Kesavan’s piece (A Mere Flick of the Wrist, May 18) on Azhar’s election trail. Indians should know that behind all the glamour lies little knowledge or concern for the common people. Most of these celebs enter politics because they are addicted to glamour and, having little of it left in their own professions, want to regain it through politics. Pity he is elected, I had hoped the electorate of Moradabad, especially the Muslims, had seen through him.
Saba A. Khan, Kuala Lumpur
I’m a Hyderabadi and a fan of Azhar’s batting skill. But I still think that fielding candidates in constituencies they do not belong to is not conducive to grassroots democracy in India. In fact, choosing candidates for elective offices should be left to party cadres of constituencies through primary elections. Why choose Azhar for Moradabad when he has no stake there? And now that he has won, what will he do for the place? Will he even visit it? Or will he just shuttle between Hyderabad and Delhi?
T. Sathyamurthi, Folsom, US
Azhar had once famously cribbed, "I am being penalised because I am a Muslim". It goes to the credit of the secular Congress to have thought of rehabilitating this "surly, narcissistic, politically hapless ex-cricketer from Hyderabad". Kesavan deserves praise for telling it as he saw it.
B.V. Shenoy, Bangalore
Your cover of May 11 had Priyanka Gandhi on it, and I recalled how, when Indira Gandhi became prime minister, socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia told a journalist in the US that Indians would at least have a good-looking face to wake up to with their morning papers.
R.K. Mahajan, New Shimla
I have a few questions regarding your May 11 cover on Priyanka: a) How long is your contract with the family? b) Why don’t you rename your magazine ‘First Family Outlook’? c) Why don’t you appoint yourself the Family’s publicity agency?
R. Ramakrishna, on e-mail
It’s ridiculous to call the current euphoria in the market (Bungee on the Return, May 18) a revival. The way the government arm-twisted the rbi and the public sector banks into improving liquidity means we will face inflation and diminishing growth in future.
Anshul, on e-mail
Yes, Mr Pillai, these wannabe Bharata-bhagya-vidhatas like Prakash Karat deserve lampooning (The Secret Diary of Prakash Karat, May 18).
K. Nair, on e-mail
Contrary to Outlook guesstimates (The Bharat Hedge Fund, May 18), the Congress won’t get more than 130 seats. It can’t. It shall cede ground to the bjp in all states. The only states where it will gain from the bjp is Rajasthan, and in Kerala and West Bengal, at the expense of the Left. It will lose heavily in AP and TN as well. So how can Outlook project 167 for the Congress? Predict but not at the expense of making a political statement. Outlook has got it wrong every time; this time will be no different.
Vibhaas, Doha, Qatar
One can well understand Outlook’s optimism! The Congress pamphlet has to dish out what the Congress wants. But why stop at 165...you could have given Congress 265 or even 465!
Srinivas, Lucknow
Thanks Mr Mehta, but you didn’t need to write about your honest bias (Delhi Diary, May 18), we readers knew of it already.
Vivek Sharma, by e-mail
I’m no lover of politicians, but I do like the idea of ‘left-inclined girls’. Why not let them have a romp in Outlook too?
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
An organisation like Outlook, which claims to be neutral, should provide equal ink to all sides in politics.
P.B. Joshipura, Suffolk, US
How is VM secular when he is so biased? Don’t tell us because he is biased towards the Congress, he should be regarded as secular!
Devendra Patel, Ahmedabad
Point taken Mr Mehta, but what to do? People like me love bashing you as the chamcha of the Nehru-Gandhi family. You might have toned down your vocal love for the dynasty in recent times, but we all know that you remain a hardcore loyalist at heart.
R. Kumar, Bangalore
You make a good point with your example citing Narendra Modi. Development and riots do not cancel each other. Riots had been a reality in many states. It is an old tool of the Congress’s Reddys in Hyderabad to embarrass their own leaders or to force Muslims to vote for them. Andhra CM ysr has blood on his hands—he played with communal politics for long. You choose to ignore it just because he isn’t a bjp man.
Vivek, Hyderabad
Outlook provides a better forum than any other in the English press for those opposed to its liberal views. But like what you said about Modi, that does not cancel out Outlook’s default bias.
Gopi Maliwal, Hong Kong
In India, politicians take oath in the name of God to stand by our secular, democratic Constitution, but in reality go against it and use all tricks in the book to avoid acting lawfully. What’s a journalist supposed to do in such a context? Remain strictly neutral and not report, investigate and unmask such wrong-doers?
M. Vijayakumar, Bangalore
Ah, Vinod! Now that I have seen pictures of Editor, I can’t but agree with the citizens of East Nizamuddin. My seven-year-old son finds him cute, and my daughter says he looks ‘bhola-bhala’.
S.K. Bisht, Delhi
Direct cash to farmers? Bad idea. Unless they’re properly educated, loose cash would only send them to liquor dens.
Srikrishna Bhagwan, New York
