LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Congress to introspect

Of late we find some senior leaders of Congress quitting the party to join the BJP and the latest to join in the list is former UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi. It is time the grand old party went in for introspection about the happenings in the party and made corrections wherever necessary lest it loses more good leaders to the BJP which is waiting to grab them.

—Tharcius S Fernando

Party affiliations

In the present-day political game, party affiliations do not mean anything and for grabbing positions of power, principles and

philosophies are thrown to the wind without any trace of guilt whatsoever. There have been umpteen instances in the past of disgruntled politicians crossing the fence for personal gains and Rita Bahuguna is the latest to jump onto this 'Opportunism' bandwagon. It is now abundantly clear why the ruling dispensation delayed announcing their CM candidate in UP -it is for Rita to come in. She fancies herself as the most qualified CM candidate and is sure to help the Lotus bloom in Uttarakhand. The late H.N.Bahuguna must be turning in his grave at the turn of events that his children have precipitated. — V Subramanyan Iyer

Salary slash

I was shocked and saddened to read ‘Upset by slash in salary 32-year-old man ends life.’ (Oct 20, FPJ) Many employers all over India are miserly with scant regard for employees' welfare. They want their companies to go global but will continue to pay meagrely. India has the lowest salary structure for highest number of working hours. Indians work like donkeys for a pittance. Steps must be taken in this direction to avoid such misfortunes in future.

— Lakshman Sundar

Change in colour

Except media hype, I do not think Rita Bahuguna Joshi's entry into BJP will be a big blow to Congress in the UP polls. Congress is a miniscule force in UP and they are trying to revive it from the grassroots level. No doubt former UP CM Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna's daughter and highly qualified Rita Bahuguna Joshi joined the BJP and said "I worked for the Congress with full dedication and honesty for 24 years," among her 27 years of political career. She left the Congress because she was "hurt when the Congress questioned the surgical strikes by the Army across the LoC." It's a lame excuse on her part. John Kenneth Galbraith rightly said that politics is the art of choosing between disastrous and unpalatable. Ms Joshi said she was also hurt by the importance accorded to poll strategist Prashant Kishore in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh polls and Rahul Gandhi's anarchism. However, her main grievance seems to be that instead of her, former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit is being projected as the Congress' chief ministerial candidate and Brahmin face in the UP poll. Unfortunately, Ms. Joshi did not succeed in reviving the party. It is also amusing to hear from a leader who just a year ago blamed PM

Mod’s silence saying it resulted in the Gujarat massacre.“His silence as PM may engulf all of India in hate and violence", but now, Ms Joshi has not only appreciated Modi for the surgical strike but also said that “only the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi could bring about development in UP.”

— Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee

Support budding sportspersons

Kudos to Ravi Dixit for winning the Malaysian Squash doubles and mixed doubles Gold, that too despite scarcity of financial support. It is really shameful that there are MNCs competing with each other to sponsor our cricketers, but none of them come forward to sponsor talented players like Ravi Dixit. Ironically, even the Sports Ministry, both at the State and Centre, seldom come to help such needy sportspersons in our country. There is an urgent need for a sea change in their attitude towards promoting all other sports except cricket in the country.

— Janaki Mahadevan

Change batting order

Kudos to NZ team, especially their Captain, Williams, who scored a valuable ton to end their

13-year wait to conquer the MIB. Initially it seemed as if our team may have had to chase a total of over 300, but thanks to our bowlers who restricted the NZ team to an achievable target of 243. But as in the past, our batsmen, especially the seniors, were not willing to stay and fight. Despite the heroics of new hero, Pandya, we failed to hit the straps by six runs. We are yet to find a good opening pair. Rohit Sharma, having scored two fifty plus in Tests, seems to be assured of his place. It is time the Captain put on his thinking cap and changed the batting order to get a decent start and win the remaining matches to clinch the OD series too.

— Kavitha Srikanth

Dance therapy in prison

Dance has an amazing capacity to heal the soul. As any type of exercise, dance too has a beneficial effect on the body and mind as it helps to release good chemicals inside the body, thus reducing stress and anxiety. Dance therapy could be tried in prisons to reform the prisoners which will not only improve the mental and physical health of prisoners but also make sure these people come out as citizens with a new skill to help them start afresh. — TS Karthik