Conducting the election with an 800 million-strong electorate is a mammoth exercise that requires the full co-operation of all political parties. If holding a “free and fair” poll is of paramount importance, we cannot countenance any dilution of the Election Commission’s powers. It is well laid down that once the election process is set in motion even the Supreme Court cannot interfere in the EC’s functioning till the process is over.

To her credit, Mamata Banerjee, despite her initial defiance, has finally deferred to the EC’s orders on transfers and postings and averted a ‘constitutional crisis’.

G David Milton

Kanyakumari

Overly optimistic

With reference to “How not to contain the fiscal deficit” by Pradeep S Mehta and Amol Kulkarni (April 10), the government has been very optimistic in projecting growth on the higher side and hence revenue figures remain on the higher side. As there is huge commitment on the expenditure on social components, these can hardly be compressed whereas there is no accountability fixed on plan expenditure.

When growth is not realised up to the expected level, the government has every excuse to cut down expenditure to contain the fiscal deficit. The postponement of planned expenditure is delaying the development of the weaker sections. It is therefore important for the next government to be careful on expenditure.

RK Arya

Faridabad

Bad form

The incident of Aam Aadmi party chief Arvind Kejriwal being slapped is unfortunate and should be severely condemned (“Kejriwal slapped yet again”, April 9). The AAP may not have endeared itself to the masses but this does not mean we can take the law into our hands to exact revenge. This is the fifth time and the second occasion in Delhi that Kejriwal has been physically attacked during the election campaign. The attacker deserves to be given the stiffest punishment the law permits.

NJ Ravi Chander

Bangalore

No lessons here

What is the lesson for us from Daiichi buying Ranbaxy for around ₹750 a share and selling it around ₹450 (“Sun shine”, April 9)? When big businesses like Daiichi fail after holding on for more than five years, what can retail investors expect? It is time we get our act together and equip our retail investors with a basic understanding of businesses and markets and their volatile nature and the period for which we can expect any positive returns. Until we understand the business we cannot expect any kind of returns from this market. The sun does not shine for all.

CR Arun

e-mail

Shocking revelation

According to a recent survey, about 20 per cent of the youth in India are indifferent to the elections. This is really shocking! The nation counts on the young for rapid social and economic changes. It is imperative that youth play an active part in the democratic process of voting, express their views on governments’ policies and play a significant role in the transformation of the country.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet

Voter baiter

Manifestos are nothing but a list of promises or a document of intent to woo the people for votes. Promises are forgotten by the parties soon after the election is over. If promises as made in manifestos had been implemented, the people would have had no problems on their plate.

The one and the only agenda for any party that comes to power is to further strengthen their vote-banks by initiating populist measures and to suck money from the public in the form of increased power and water charges, transportation charges, increase in tax rates and so on to fill the government coffers. Issues concerning price rise and unemployment are backburners. The parties in successive governments want more to show that the percentage of rise in cost of goods and services during their regime is less than that experienced during the rule of the previous government.

KV Seetharamaiah

Hassan

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