MyVoice: Views of our readers 12th November 2020

A bitter pill for KCR

The Chief Minister of Telangana, time and again termed opposition leaders as useless lot (paniki malina daddhammalu) without vision. The recent bypoll results should serve him an eye opener. The defeat of TRS candidate in Dubbaka, a pocket borough of ruling party, proved that it's not the leaders, but the voters call the shots. It seems the electorate gradually realised that, in spite of six years at the helm of affairs, KCR's many promises yet not seen the light of the day.

The so-called bold statement viz. converting Hyderabad as 'Vishwanagaram' also proved futile with the utter damage of city roads due to recent torrential rains and floods in State. The Dubbaka results are perhaps a litmus test for TRS party, that signals an uphill task for forthcoming GHMC elections. It's also hightime for opposition party leaders to tighten their belts in Telangana.

Govardhan R Jilla, Mumbai

Stinging riposte to TRS

In colliding with the giant TRS which has very strong roots, the BJP had to struggle a lot. Raghunandan Rao, despite some personal shortcomings, could withstand the combat and won with the slightest margin. Most of the poll surveys predicted that it would be a cakewalk for the impenetrable TRS,backed by KCR's charisma, notwithstanding the weak political stature of the TRS candidate Sujatha.

Though the Dubbaka rural voter masses were benefitted by the Government's many welfare schemes, Harish Rao's time-tested capabilities couldn't thwart the win of BJP, it was like watching till the end, a thriller suspense movie. The tyranny of the TRS has bred contempt among the people and has been put to an end.

K Sai Prasanna, Tadepalligudem

Telangana eases up for BJP

The historic victory of Bharatiya Janata party in Dubbaka by-elections will surely pave the way for the national party's consolidation in Telangana.If the current mood of the people that BJP is the only credible alternative to the ruling TRS continues ,the largely north Indian party may find a strong foothold in a second southern state after Karnataka. It is sad to see Congress being decimated in Telangana as well after Andhra Pradesh, even after granting statehood.

N.Rathan Prasad Reddy, Hanamkonda

Tejashwi Yadav, a tough competitor

NDA's victory in Bihar, albeit by a slender margin, makes it clear that there has been no erosion of its support base, at least not to the extent needed, to dislodge it from power. Even so, the good fight put up by the Mahagathbandhan denied the "double engine sarkar" a runaway victory. With far fewer JD (U) MLAs, Nitish Kumar - one of India's great political survivors - will now find himself diminished in stature and under compulsion to play second fiddle to the BJP. However, the BJP may play it safe and not dictate terms for fear that he may cross over to the Mahagathbandhan. Perhaps NDA's return to power despite disillusionment with the government can be plausibly explained in terms of the overarching appeal Hindutva still holds for the masses. The NDA would not have been able to beat anti-incumbency if unacceptably high levels of unemployment, the miseries of unemployment and the plight of uncared-for migrant workers had decisively influenced voter preference.

By no means can the verdict be counted or claimed as a positive vote for its performance vis-a-vis the impoverished people or its handling of the migrant crisis during the lockdown. True to form, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did his campaign blitzkrieg adopting his usual "more-patriotic-and-more-pious-than-thou" posture. He touched on Ayodhya, Article: 370, Balakot airstrike and chanted "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Jai Shri Ram" to play on (and tap) nationalist and religious sentiments to NDA's advantage. Post-election, he hailed the result, a boost to him, as a vote for 'development'.

The Modi factor cannot be looked at in isolation from Hindu revivalism. Surely we are still to go some way before we become a truly secular nation that has put politics of polarization behind. It is clear from the vote and seat shares that caste too was a major factor in the Bihar election. To escape the "MY" tag, Tejashwi Yadav described his resurgent RJD as an "A to Z" party. The arithmetically sound "social coalition" engineered by BJP and JD (U) was electorally rewarding for them. By and large, voters are still to transcend caste identity and vote on the basis of the bread-and-butter issues of politics. Tejashwi Yadav led the high voltage campaign single handed, made a splash and emerged as a leader in his own right. He is now assured of a prominent role in Bihar politics. Nitish Kumar made an emotional pitch saying it was his "last election"; he is now all set to become the Chief Minister for the record fourth time; he should do more than maintain the status quo.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Pack up time for GOP?

The message of the Bihar poll verdict is another validation of the Congress becoming a liability of its allies in assembly elections. The party managed to secure 70 seats from Tejashwi Yadav but ended up dragging down the opposition's tally. The Congress was winning only 19 of these 70 seats in Bihar. The Congress has been a drag on its alliance partner in many other states in the past — for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in UP in 2017, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Jharkhand in 2019, to cite a few instances. The final poll outcome may not reflect the sharpness of his well-crafted electoral strategy but his valiant show has certainly indicated his arrival on Bihar's political centre-stage. To wrap up the week-end there were surprises, the ouster of Donald Trump from the White House and the last election triumph of Nitish Kumar all came in a flash in the pan.

C K Subramaniam, Navi Mumbai