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Middle class is India’s strength Successive governments have been ignoring the middle class on all fronts. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi are no different than the others. The Delhi-centric party has miserably failed to take everybody along, especially the fastest-growing middle class. Whether it is inflation, security, health, education and other basic amenities, nobody seems bothered about the middle class. Schemes like MNREGA, cash transfer scheme, etc revolve around the lower class and the other economic policies, industrial growth, FDI, etc benefit the rich class. The basic problem of almost all the parties has been that most of the schemes or policies are being formulated keeping the political compulsions and the vote bank in mind. In today’s consumption-led growth, the role of the middle class cannot be sidelined. Due to this growing middle class, the Indian market seems lucrative to the whole world. By some statistics, India will have the world’s biggest middle class in the near future. The world is seeing this as a big opportunity but our own government is still neglecting its strength. It seems that the government has no plans about how it wants to involve the middle class in its scheme of things. Middle class it seems does not have much to do apart from slogging and paying taxes. The middle class is increasingly disappointed and disillusioned with the political class. SUMEET SETH, Karnal |
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II The Lokpal Bill has neither found a mention in Sonia Gandhi’s speech nor was it highlighted by any Congress leader in the ‘chintan shivir’. Corruption has been a burning issue being confronted by the UPA II following the spate of scams which rocked its government. This was a serious issue which the Congress should have discussed threadbare as it had tarnished its image in the eyes of the aam aadmi. It is surprising Sonia Gandhi simply mentioned in her address that citizens were fed up with corruption at higher levels and in daily life without outlining measures being taken to contain the same. It appears aspirations of the educated urban upper and middle class, who provided main thrust to the agitations by Anna Hazare against corruption, have been ignored. RAVINDER SINGH, Jalandhar III At the Jaipur session, Congress leaders were said to have pleaded for organisational elections and had also decried the practice of nominations that according to them had weakened the party. Should that be so, how do the Congress leaders justify the superimposition on the organisation of Rahul Gandhi as No 2? Why wasn’t he made to come through the process of elections from the grassroots level? What is worse, his superimposition through nomination is being hailed as the “will” of Congress workers. It is sad that no political party in India practices inner party democracy. Inner party elections have almost been forgotten. It is nomination culture all the way in all political parties; in quite a few it is unabashed dynastic succession. This is one reason why there is a complete disconnect between the grassroots workers and those at the helm of affairs in most Indian political parties. RJ KHURANA, Bhopal IV Rahul Gandhi has said that the Congress and the people of India are his life and has thanked the Congress party and promised effective changes. The opposition party BJP has called his anointment as a mere eyewash. However, young blood was needed to rejuvenate the Congress party and it is hoped that the newly appointed vice-president of the Congress party will invigorate the party. VIJAY D PATIL, Pune Wrong move The Central Government’s decision to allow Hurriyat Conference leaders to visit Pakistan was unjustified. These self-appointed and so-called representatives of the people of Kashmir have only one agenda and that is India bashing. Did they inform the government of their motive before going? If they declared their intention of meeting Hafiz Saeed, Sayed Salahuddin and ISI chief, why was the permission granted? And if they did not reveal their motive earlier, why no action now? They should be tried for criminal conspiracy. They breathe Indian air, eat Indian food and live a royal life on Indian taxpayer’s money but dance to the tune of Hafiz Sayeed and the ISI. These are the people responsible for the killings of panches and sarpanches who have kept democracy alive in J&K by sacrificing their lives. Why is there VVIP security for Hurriyat leaders and no protection to the custodians of democracy? Dr MANMOHAN SINGH, Khanna
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