— Sidheshwar Tiwari

Nagpur

Soured old demands

• Power often induces amnesia. Nothing illustrates this better than the way the BJP’s political agenda has been tuned to a retrograde mode. Earlier, the party took an opportunistic position on the nuclear deal, forgetting Vajpayee’s legacy. And now, it has begun to talk of scrapping Article 370 once more — an irresponsible move given the criticality of the Kashmir peace process. Although Ayodhya had apparently been forgotten, one cannot trust deluded leaders smelling power in Delhi once more.

— Souresh Roy

New Delhi

Tread softly

• The BJP has been rightly advised not to raise controversial issues such as Article 370 and the uniform civil code. This is imperative if the BJP intends to keep the NDA united, with a view to winning the next general election. The BJP’s recent victory in the Karnataka assembly elections should make it formulate welfare-oriented local policies rather than mislead it into the old dream of becoming of a pan-Indian party. Thus should the BJP tread carefully on Kashmir and understand the sensitivities of the Kashmiri people.

— Satwant Kaur

Mahilpur, Punjab

Andhra trip

• The Andhra bypoll results may or may not be a referendum on the Telangana issue. But the outcome, and Chandrasekhar Rao’s thin margin of victory, do raise serious questions about the Telangana sentiment. Development of the Telangana region doesn’t depend on statehood, nor is it going to be determined by these results. Proper cooperation between the Central and state governments is necessary to ensure that Telangana doesn’t turn into another basket case.

— B.K. Chatterjee

Faridabad

The vulture’s return

• Jaithirth Rao’s message extends beyond the grounding of the Indian vulture. In fact, all that used to be good about India is being grounded, and the consequences are for everybody to see. Rao also makes clear that the pleas of civil society are casually treated or ignored and the authorities remain unmoved. Rao stands vindicated as his feathered friends have indeed survived but taken the form of politicians and bureaucrats who go scavenging in order to rid the natural and human environments of their assets.

— Kedarnath R. Aiyar

Mumbai