Home Minister’s visit
As expected, Home Minister Amit Shah took control over the situation in Chennai after dedicating several projects for Tamil Nadu and after making the AIADMK leadership to voluntarily announce the continuation of the party’s alliance with the BJP for the 2021 Assembly elections, thus ensuring a strong base for the BJP in Tamil Nadu (Page 1, November 22). Unlike earlier polls, issues related to the State only will be predominant this time. Though the BJP is not a major force in Tamil Nadu, its motive is to indeed emerge as a reckoning force in this ‘coalition’. The ideologies and policies of the AIADMK are different from those of the BJP’s and it remains to be seen how the parties manage things. The Home Minister skirted controversial issues such as the New Education policy, the language issue and farmers’ woes. Seen objectively, the alliance seems to be a hotch-potch arrangement for electoral gains.
D. Sethuraman,
Chennai
The announcement on the alliance in Tamil Nadu has finally laid all speculation about it to rest, only strengthening the perception of the AIADMK being tied to the Modi government’s apron strings. True, the BJP holds sway over much of the country, but it has only a negligible presence in Tamil Nadu. In its eagerness to gain a toehold and build a base in the State by piggybacking on the AIADMK, the BJP could bargain for seats disproportionate to its strength.
G. David Milton,
Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
Ayurveda PG students
The country is already affected by the lack of well-rounded MBBS doctors. Therefore, the move to allow Ayurveda PG students to perform surgeries is a double whammy for patients. This approach of the present government, of sacrificing modern science at the altar of Ayurveda, is stupefying. The common man should not be treated like a guinea pig.
Deepak Singhal,
Noida
