Editor,
The NYAY scheme or Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme of Rs 72,000 per poor family per year announced by Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, on the eve of the current Lok Sabha elections will definitely help the poor families of the country to some extent if it actually comes to fruition. But since it is part of the election manifesto people definitely have doubts and questions in their minds with regard to the intent of this scheme. Will the Congress storm to power in India on May 23 this year and from where will the party get the magic figure of 272 seats given the present political scenario in India? It is very unlikely. So what will be the fate of the scheme? In fact, many promises were made and schemes were announced by various parties in the past during elections but when they came to power all the promises were either broken or forgotten. To me, the NYAY is nothing but a big hoax or an election gimmick just to woo voters, especially the poorer sections of society, to vote for the Congress party so it can come to power in Delhi. I urge fellow voters to be wary of such promises during the elections because politicians can even promise to give you the moon and the stars in heaven. I personally rubbish such promises. As for me, I believe only when such promises are implemented on the ground.
Yours etc.,
Philip Marwein,
Via-Email
Fighting TB
Editor,
India has close to 1 lakh cases of drug-resistant TB and most of them remain undiagnosed and untreated. Close to 100% of the country is covered by DOTS but still the death rates from TB have risen over the years. India’s TB programme needs a focused and accommodative strategy. Early and accurate culture-sensitivity based diagnosis is key to success of the TB control program. Greater awareness among the public is the need of the hour on the causes and symptoms of the disease and the treatment options available in India. Even though TB drugs had hit the market 40 years ago, the disease is yet to be eradicated because patients do not undergo the full course of treatment or they treat the disease lightly. Unless TB patients realise that they have to adhere to the mandatory drug regimen, they cannot be cured of the disease, nor can it be eradicated.
Yours etc.,
Vinod C. Dixit
Ahmedabad
Smriti Irani’s 2019 Poll Challenge
Editor,
Though Smriti Irani lost to Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi, she made Amethi her second home, preparing for the 2019 elections and taking up a series of developmental projects in the region. Exactly five years ago, at the onset of the summer of 2014, the BJP surprised everyone by announcing Smriti Irani as its candidate from Amethi. Irani was the BJP’s giant killer, to take on Rahul Gandhi, the heir of the ruling Congress and scion of India’s mightiest political family. Amethi was the Congress first family’s pocket borough since the 1980s. The constituency has the distinction of sending Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi (four terms), Sonia Gandhi and whosoever it named, for example, Satish Sharma and Sanjay Singh. Rahul had won twice from Amethi; his victory margin in the election prior to 2014 was over 3.70 lakh votes. Congress had been projecting him as the future of the nation.
Smriti was tasked to take on the Gandhi scion on his home turf a bastion which even the BJP, its supporters and Sangh Parivar thought was impenetrable. It was a challenge not many would have taken. She was a complete outsider to Uttar Pradesh. A television actor-turned-politician, Irani had contested one parliamentary election from Chandni Chowk against Kapil Sibal and lost badly. She is a Parsi by marriage, which perhaps didn’t have any voter in that backward area called Amethi. It was brave on the part of BJP and Irani to contest from a state where caste was a guiding factor and in some cases the abiding principle of politics.
But Irani had the grit and determination to take on the challenge, and stamina to pursue it relentlessly. Over a period of time, having worked in various posts in the party as secretary, Mahila Morcha chief and vice-president and as a Rajya Sabha MP and campaigner, Irani had proved that she was a fighter and had a propelling capability to leave a mark. Her energetic presence, sharp oratorical skills and the backing of BJP came as a package deal which people, perhaps, had wanted to see for several decades. Still, not many in Amethi and outside the constituency believed that she would win.
Amethi had been a living example of how leaders, including the topmost leaders of the party that ruled India neglected their constituency and believed that only cosmetic work and occasional presence would ensure their victory in perpetuity. Irani is there to challenge that.
Though she had lost, as the result showed, she caused a great deal of scare in the Congress camp. Rahul’s victory margin was reduced from 3.70 lakh to 1.07 lakh. Those in rival camps dismissed her as a one-time phenomenon in Amethi and believed she would not return after the 2014 election. But contrary to their beliefs, Irani made Amethi her second home, preparing for the 2019 elections, and taking up a series of developmental projects in the region. Her name figured in the first list of BJP’s candidates for Lok Sabha, which was released on Thursday evening. No surprises this time. It was taken that she may be the candidate to challenge the Congress president.
The difference between Irani’s candidacy in 2014 and 2019 is noteworthy This time around, the BJP and its sympathisers believe that she may win to write one important chapter in India’s political history. In the last five years, what Irani has done very effectively is, as they call “gherabandi (fencing)” of Amethi and Rahul Gandhi. Recently, a manufacturing unit for AK-203 Kalashnikov rifles, an India-Russia joint venture, was inaugurated in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman. Ironically, Rahul had laid the foundation stone for the arms factory in 2007 but it did not get any traction because of a series of confusions.
Rahul Gandhi’s Amethi home turf will not be a cakewalk this time. That’s why the Congress in Kerala has proposed AICC President Rahul Gandhi’s name for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, a party bastion in the state, probably to keep an option open to counter the dynastic scion’s possible defeat in Amethi.
Yours etc.,
Samares Bandyopadhyay,
Advocate, Kolkata High Court