M A I L B A G

Defection: bane of Indian politics

The Indian polity has always been marred by defection by opportunistic politicians.

The latest victim of the defection game is the tiny coastal state of Goa, which has witnessed a change of guard following the political border-crossing by its state legislators, for second time since the elections to the state assembly were held in June, 1999.

This time the BJP has hit the jackpot by succeeding in forming the government on its own following the merger of the splinter groups of the Congress into the BJP. Goa has thus earned the distinction of having three Chief Ministers within a short span of 15 months.

The game of defection will continue unabated in our country unless the relevant schedule in our Constitution is amended. Schedule 10 of our Constitution deals with the procedure of political defection in which it is stated that if one-third members of a legislative or parliamentary party defect from their parent party, then they would be recognised as a separate entity in the House by terming the defection as a legal split. Whereas if a single member or less than one-third members defect from their parent party, they stand automatically disqualified from their membership.

Is this a fair provision?

The members who defect from their parent party should be disqualified irrespective of their strength. A byelection should be ordered in their respective constituencies by the Election Commission. This is the only way to get rid of defection-prone politics.

HEMANT KUMAR
Ambala City

Police: not a rosy picture

The Tribune feature “Do we deserve this police?” paints a fairly balanced picture of the country’s police/police set-up. Expectedly enough, the picture is not rosy.

No doubt, the most visible executive arm of the state is seen by the public at large as “corrupt, inefficient and partisan” — more of a “torment” or than a “protector”, as the feature notes.

Who is to blame for all the ills plaguing the police? Well, to my mind, the blame largely lies on the shoulders of the powers that be who have consistently betrayed crass/callous indifference to the problems facing the vital force.

Sadly, even the recommendations on the subject made by the National Police Commission at a considerable cost to the state exchequer are reported to have been quietly pushed under the carpet.

TARA CHAND
Ambota (Una)

Betting scandal

After going through allegations made by Manoj Prabhakar on match fixing and giving Manoj an opportunity to substantiate his allegations Justice Chandrachud in his report mentioned that allegations were baseless and Manoj Prabhakar was a congenital liar. The same has been vindicated by the CBI investigations.

It seems that tahalka.com audio-video tapes were stage-managed in a bigger disinformation campaign. The match-fixing syndicate was not happy with uncorruptible Kapil Dev as the coach of the Indian team and wanted him to be thrown out. Prabhakar played a willing pawn into their hands as he had been doing earlier. The role of tahalka.com looks dubious and needs to be closely scrutinised.

L.K. SHARMA
Panchkula

No rebuff

This refers to the article “Rebuff from Riyadh” by Mr V. Gangadhar (Oct 20). Saudi Arabia is nobody to rebuff India.

India is not living on the charity in the shape of oil by Saudi Arabia, nor is it a favour to us. In fact, Saudi Arabia will be deprived of many cheap essential items of daily use, supplied by India in return for oil, if we stop purchasing Saudi oil.

ANAND PRAKASH
Panchkula

Menace of stray dogs

After reading “From here and there” (Oct 20) we have come to know that the population of stray dogs in Delhi is 2,50,000 who between them manage to bite 3500 citizens every year, some with fatal results.

Thanks to the invention of refrigerators and tremendous advance in medical science, anti-rabies injections required are available locally.

But the only way to deal with such a large population of stray dogs is their killing, whichever may be the method used. There is no question of cruelty to animals vis-a-vis human suffering caused by stray dogs.

R.S. DUTTA
Chandigarh

Not just a PRO

It was shocking to learn about the sudden death of the senior PRO, Sanjay Manchanda, under tragic circumstances. What exactly made him to take to the extreme step to end his life would perhaps be difficult to know. Possibly, he had fallen victim to prolonged mental torture.

He was a successful public relations officer. He was much sought after by the scribes, who would drop into his office any time and were able to get the latest about the city’s social life, sports, development activities and what not.

He himself was a regular contributor to the newspapers. He would often contribute to The Tribune, especially on tennis, his first love. He had a sense of vision. His contributions were quite readable and often praised. He was more than a PRO. He would indeed be missed.

V.S. MAHAJAN
Chandigarh