Rajya Sabha seats

Apropos of ‘AAP may pick Prof Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Bhajji’, the names of probables doing the rounds suggest that AAP is treading cautiously to nominate its candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament, should be adorned with persons of eminence in their respective fields. Though its members are elected on the principle of proportional representation, the right candidates of a party should get elected unanimously.

Vijaya Sharma, by mail

Pension plan

Reference to ‘One MLA, one pension’, our elected representatives have treated themselves lavishly at the cost of public exchequer. Can there be a better example of betrayal of trust of the common man by whom our lawmakers swear day in and day out? The hapless employees have to strive for their pensions and the soldiers for the OROP. But the lawmakers have no qualms of conscience in granting themselves numerous concessions, forgetting gracefully all the differences and bickerings. Is it not amusing that national interest can’t unite them but multiple pensions and perks against all canons of appropriateness bring them on one platform?

Gp Capt JS Boparai (retd), Bhadsali

Cong’s poll debacle

Apropos of ‘Congress must reform’, after its debacle in assembly elections in five states, the Congress has lost its power to attract voters. Though with nearly about 700 MLAs, nationally Congress still has a considerable footprint, but it just hasn’t the political will and leaders to make use of this large presence. The Nehru-Gandhi family has been unable to pull off a win while the irony is that without them the party gets splintered. Leaders in the G-23 offer not much hope, as most of the members aren’t much relevant electorally. The Congress needs a clear ideology and practice of adroit realpolitik by pointing to the dangers of divisiveness.

Lal Singh, Amritsar

Clean drinking water

Access to clean drinking water may not seem a luxury for us but for one-fourth of the world’s population, it is still something which they cannot afford. Nearly 2.2 billion people are hankering for a clean drop of water. Clean drinking water is crucial for a disease-free life. On the occasion of World Water Day (March 22), I can only hope for a world which is quenched with clean drinking water. All eyes will be on the developing nations for their contribution in solving this problem.

Noopur Baruah, Tezpur

Russian oil deal

This refers to ‘Europe too buying crude from Russia, says MEA’; India must go ahead with the Russian oil deal despite US warning. There won’t be any violations of American sanctions against Russia, as many European nations are continuing to buy Russian energy, even after the war in Ukraine. India has the right to buy Russian oil at discounted price. We have to keep in mind that sanctions by Trump on Iran and now by Biden on Russia has made India rejig its trading patterns and also its partners. Though Russian invasion of Ukraine is not justified, India should not be seen compromising its strategic autonomy.

MS Khokhar, by email

In complete contrast

The middle ‘The power show in politics’ displays the contrast between the American President and the Indian Prime Minister. Bush had attacked Iraq on the pretext of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ (WMD). Saddam Hussein did not accept Bush’s hegemony and was eliminated. Could an Indian PM do that? Remember, how Indira Gandhi treated Pak PoWs after the 1971 war.

LR Sharma, Sundernagar (HP)

Kashmiri pandits

If Me Too allegations of harassment or worse can be made and investigated decades after the alleged incidents, why should the more serious issue of Kashmiri pandits, with both contemporaneous, current and credible evidence available not be investigated and the guilty booked?

Meet Malhotra, by mail

Train stoppage

Northern Railway is running a daily train between Hoshiarpur and Delhi which runs via Ludhiana, Mohali and Chandigarh. But this train doesn’t have a stoppage at Mohali. Mohali, an upcoming metro of northern India, requires better connectivity with Delhi. People have to unnecessarily travel up to Chandigarh to catch this train, which causes inconvenience. The Railways should give a stoppage of this train at SAS Nagar (Mohali) station for ease of passengers of Mohali and Kharar.

Maninder Pal Singh, Mohali

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