The end of chapter one
Now that the ‘Maharashtra saga’ may have an ending with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray stepping down as a result of a protracted internal rebellion, will someone enlighten us in the rest of India about the parliamentary discussions during the passage of the anti-defection law and, importantly, how and why Members of Parliament accepted the legal loophole of permitting defection as an acceptable one? It is that provision along with the power to the Speaker to decide on defections that is the bane of politics in India. The time has come to rectify a defective law.
Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao,
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
With Mr. Thackeray stepping down, one would have thought that the lotus will once again be in full bloom in Maharashtra, its biggest prize catch ever since the launching of ‘Operation Kamal’ to unseat democratically elected non-BJP governments by whatever means possible. But the sudden change of heart in this game plan seems to have caught many by surprise. If the aim is to diminish the influence of the Thackerays over the rank and file of the Sena, this may be difficult as the Sena cadre is by and large emotionally connected to the Thackeray family.
In all this, the power of money has once again been demonstrated, pointing to how crucial its role has been in the formation of a new dispensation. One can only make a guess about the staggering amounts that would have been spent on these MLAs being flown from State to State and in luxury. It is obvious that the central agencies that matter will look the other way.
S.K. Choudhury,
Bengaluru
The political events only reiterate that politics which makes strange bedfellows is the art of managing the possible in which there are no permanent friends or foes, and where permanent interests reign supreme.
As in the past, the underlying lesson from the fall of the MVA government is that coalition governments that lack ideological coherence born out of yearning for power with a strong antipathy towards a principal political adversary as its binding glue (with the sole intention of keeping it out of power), is bound to collapse under the weight of its own internal contradictions.
B. Suresh Kumar,
Coimbatore
GST hikes
It is unfortunate that the GST net has spread its wings to cover a range of products of daily use. One has to conclude that the hike is a ‘gift’ to the people after the BJP’s impressive performance in the recent bypolls. The prices of essential commodities have already gone through the roof. When there is no dearth of avenues available to the Government to generate revenue, there is no justification to burden people even more. It affects the dream of aspirations too.
V. Johan Dhanakumar,
Chennai
