Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 18 June 2018 | Page 7
come for talks. India must not hesi-
tate to talk to him, it’s in the interest
of peace in the subcontinent. After all,
when General Pervez Musharraf, who
had the full support of the army and
the ISI, talked with Vajpayee, it felt
like the Kashmir dispute was about to
be resolved.
Useless Tactics
ON E-MAIL Bidyut Kumar
Chatterjee: Unity’s Field Test (June
4) rightly noted thus: “Clearly, the
Kairana bypoll will test the Hindutva
wheel and the opposition’s ability to
dismantle it by coming together.” The
strength of opposition unity won even
after the BJP tried its best to polarise
Kairana’s voters, not only this time
but also in 2014. Back then, the rec
ently defeated BJP candidate’s father,
the late BJP MP Hukum Singh, had
raised a hue and cry (proved wrong)
that Hindus (in UP) were suffering
under Muslim domination supported
by the SP government, and were flee-
ing the state. This time, the BJP’s
POTENT MIX Allies RLD, SP, BSP
campaigners changed their tactics
when they learnt that the united
opposition had nominated Tabassum
Hasan but to no avail. I’m writing this
letter just after the count in Kairana
where Hindu voters have voted to
teach the BJP a lesson by giving them
a taste of bure din (bad days).
Light On The Future
BANGALORE K.S. Jayatheertha:
Apropos of Coalition of Compulsion
(June 4), Siddaramaiah often com-
pared himself to the late Devaraj Urs,
Karnataka’s longest-serving chief
minister and a champion of the back-
ward classes. The former thought he
would inherit the latter’s legacy and
become a two-term CM. He tried to
bring all the backward castes, Dalits
and minorities under an umbrella to
create a formidable political force. He
assumed these groups would be with
him and thought of splitting the
Lingayat vote. Both plans backfired.
After losing power, and having been
deserted by the ‘vote bank’ he had cul-
tivated over the years, , Devaraj Urs
had become disillusioned. He
lamented the fact that the people and
leaders he thought he had empowered
over a decade’s time, did not come to
his support when he most expected.
MUSCAT Ramachandran Nair: My
letter refers to Outlook’s cover story
on the drama of the recently con-
cluded Karnataka polls (Saffron
Knights, May 28). Whether its ‘win-
ning formula’ worked or not, it was
not right for the BJP to make a mad
dash for forming the government
after the assembly elections. It should
have waited patiently and monitored
others’ moves. Sadly, the government
administration is perceived by the
parties as a money-making system;
ideologies do not matter so much.
Though the lotus didn’t bloom in
Karnataka, the top brass would have
drawn some confidence in emerging
as the single largest party. Now it’s up
to them how they can build on this to
prepare for the 2019 general elec-
tions. With a steady increase in prices
of daily commodities, including fuel
and cooking gas, the public, that is in
desperate need of financial relief, will
be keenly watching the manifestos of
all major parties.
Self Clean
Inverter AC
Powerful Cooling,
Healthy Living
ON E-MAIL J.S. Acharya: The suc-
cessful formation of government in
the Karnataka polls is the first hurrah
of a fast uniting Opposition. It pro-
vides well-orchestrated optics for the
opposition’s ‘Mission 2019’. But what
are the chances of the Opposition dis-
lodging Narendra Modi? For that to
happen, it’s imperative that they
come up with a positive agenda for
the nation, rather than turn its cam-
paign into a wholly negative tirade
against Modi. They must then chan-
nelise these efforts into action on the
ground in states where there is a level
of disillusionment against the BJP
and Modi. Relying purely on numbers
18 June 2018 OUTLOOK 7
THANDA
HAI…
CHANGA
HAI