Citizens’ voice

The 'Rs 600' revelation

I am in a fix. Does the Chief Minister Madam of Delhi deserve kudos for her statement that "Rs 600 is enough to sustain a family of five for a month", or brickbats?

Brickbats for such a preposterous notion from the CM at a time when the value of even a 1000 rupee note has been decimated by the skyrocketing cost of living, or kudos for revealing that our leaders, the PM the CM and their colleagues at the Centre and the states have no real idea of what goes on actually on the ground vis a vis the rise in prices.

Only the common man knows where the shoe actually pinches. The arrogance, and the 'nasha' (drunkenness) that comes with power are the characteristics of those running the present government. They are fortunate that no one can shake them for five years, until the hustings. The Gujarat election should be an eyeopener for the Congress.

S A Madhan

Gujarat lessons

Rahul Gandhi, the star campaigner for the Congress, and the inheritor of the politics of love of Mahatma Gandhi and the policy of tolerance of Jawaharlal Nehru, accused Narendra Modi of practising the politics of anger and asked people of Gujarat to switch over to the power of love.

Modi's hat-trick of victories proves yet again that sidetracking the main issue of practical economics, besides common sense, and instead lingering on doctrines and irrelevant principles proved costly for the Congress in Gujarat, as it had in Uttar Pradesh earlier.

It is true, there have been riots in Gujarat in the wake of Godhara train burning. Even if Modi could be blamed for his insufficient response to contain the violence, it cannot be said he pursued a policy of hatred and totally abandoned the path of reconciliation. Probably Rahul Gandhi had forgotten 1984, when thousands of Sikhs were killed consequent to the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It is also significant that the Congress did not follow any similar violent policies thereafter. It is time for both the Congress and the BJP to open a new chapter in economic progress, rather than harping on the past and reopening old wounds.

... contd.

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