07-23-2008, 12:52 PM
Trust vote
It was delightful to watch the proceedings of the Lok Sabha on Monday and Tuesday, convened to vote on the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. All the MPs gathered to debate the confidence motion and the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. What made the occasion special was the high attendance and eagerness of parties to comment on the UPA governmentâs performance. One hopes such attitude prevails during regular Parliament sessions too.
Ashwani Sharma,
Ghaziabad
* * *
At the end of the day, the UPA government won the confidence vote. But it is bound to lose the trust of the nation and its people. The use of unethical means â getting jailed MPs bail to vote, barters, tradeoffs, defections, horse-trading and what not â touched an all-time low. Dr. Singh proved to be a good modern-day politician. As an individual, he is a man of integrity but as a politician he is no different from others of his clan.
Ushadevi Suddapalli & S.B. Rao,
Muscat
* * *
Dr. Singh the economist failed as he has done nothing to control the galloping inflation. As a politician, he brought a bad name not only to himself but also to his party by striking unholy alliances in the run-up to the trust vote. What a precipitous fall!
K. Vijayakumar,
Bangalore
* * *
Even though the UPA government is a winner for now, it would do well to realise that the same issue â the nuclear deal â will bring it down in the next Lok Sabha election. MPs can be lured but not a billion people. At last, New Delhi has lost its independence to Washingtonâs supremacy. The true winner is the USA, not the UPA.
V. Siva Anantha Krishnan,
Tirunelveli
* * *
The tug of war between the political parties to win/defeat the confidence vote exposed the mockery that is Indian politics. Throwing values to the winds, parties reduced the political process into an auction where votes were sold to the highest bidder.
It would have been better if the Speaker had tossed a coin and declared the âwinners.â
N. Sachi Chander,
Chennai
* * *
The Congress, which clearly knew that it was in a minority in Parliament, went ahead with the nuclear deal and then tried to formalise it with the help of parties that had their eyes only on money and power. The outrageous bargain for each vote has weakened democracy.
C.K. Rahul,
Hyderabad Isn
* * *
ât it ironical that most of our political parties have tunnel visions and cannot see beyond their self-interest? The BJP would have never stopped boasting had it been instrumental in signing the historic nuclear deal but opposed it in Parliament for the sake of opposition. When Chandrababu Naidu was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, he never gave the impression that he was against U.S. imperialism. Yet as an opposition leader, he talked of American hegemony and how the deal was against national interests. Mayawati opposed the deal not because she had any credible arguments against it, but because she could not see the SP aligning with the ruling party. The Left parties opposed it because of their hatred for the U.S. although, to be fair to them, they were consistent in their opposition. Seeing the theatre of the absurd played on Tuesday, the aam aadmi could only say âO tempora! O mores!â
Ramani P. Easwaran,
Bangalore
* * *
The happenings on the eve of the confidence vote made us wonder whether any sanctity is associated with the parliamentary process. An event which could change the fate of our country became a hot cake and the subject of breaking news for television channels. The primary issue â nuclear deal â took a backseat. Reports of horse-trading, backstabbing, etc., made a mockery of our democracy which is the largest and still surviving.
V. Harine,
Chennai
* * *
It is a pity that even strategic defence deals and foreign policy issues were reduced to the level of street politics. Close friends who described themselves as natural allies became enemies and parties that wanted to finish off one another became close friends overnight. Dr. Singh might have made it in the trust vote but in the process, the nationâs reputation has gone down. One should not be surprised if the present political alignments change drastically before the next Lok Sabha election.
Karavadi Raghava Rao,
Vijayawada
* * *
>Watching the Lok Sabha proceedings, it struck me that the focus of many politicians was not the nuclear deal at all. Their allegations, tone and tenor, gesticulations, animated faces, and loud clapping ⦠all these made for recreation. Then there was the spectre of the Speaker pleading with the members to observe decorum. With all this happening in the House, we could only hope and pray that the MPs would take the right decision on an issue having a far-reaching impact on the people who reposed faith in them.
Manan Rathore,
Jaipur
One group of politicians supported the nuclear deal and another opposed it and both groups claimed they were patriotic and what they said was in the national interest. Who was speaking the truth? For the common people, the trust vote was a futile exercise. They stood as mute spectators as a handful of politicians decided whether there would be another election or the UPA government would continue.
S. Sundaresh,
Bangalore
Many MPs and smaller parties hardly knew the details of the nuclear deal. They were only keen on making hay while the sun shone.
C. Sunish,
Bangalore The ruling parties claimed the nuclear deal was in the interest of the people. But do they know what the people really think about it? The government failed to feel the pulse of the nation before proceeding with the deal. Many politicians said during the debate in the Lok Sabha that they had not read the text of the deal. How, then, did they decide to have a say in the nationâs future?
S. Regis,
Chennai
It was delightful to watch the proceedings of the Lok Sabha on Monday and Tuesday, convened to vote on the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. All the MPs gathered to debate the confidence motion and the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. What made the occasion special was the high attendance and eagerness of parties to comment on the UPA governmentâs performance. One hopes such attitude prevails during regular Parliament sessions too.
Ashwani Sharma,
Ghaziabad
* * *
At the end of the day, the UPA government won the confidence vote. But it is bound to lose the trust of the nation and its people. The use of unethical means â getting jailed MPs bail to vote, barters, tradeoffs, defections, horse-trading and what not â touched an all-time low. Dr. Singh proved to be a good modern-day politician. As an individual, he is a man of integrity but as a politician he is no different from others of his clan.
Ushadevi Suddapalli & S.B. Rao,
Muscat
* * *
Dr. Singh the economist failed as he has done nothing to control the galloping inflation. As a politician, he brought a bad name not only to himself but also to his party by striking unholy alliances in the run-up to the trust vote. What a precipitous fall!
K. Vijayakumar,
Bangalore
* * *
Even though the UPA government is a winner for now, it would do well to realise that the same issue â the nuclear deal â will bring it down in the next Lok Sabha election. MPs can be lured but not a billion people. At last, New Delhi has lost its independence to Washingtonâs supremacy. The true winner is the USA, not the UPA.
V. Siva Anantha Krishnan,
Tirunelveli
* * *
The tug of war between the political parties to win/defeat the confidence vote exposed the mockery that is Indian politics. Throwing values to the winds, parties reduced the political process into an auction where votes were sold to the highest bidder.
It would have been better if the Speaker had tossed a coin and declared the âwinners.â
N. Sachi Chander,
Chennai
* * *
The Congress, which clearly knew that it was in a minority in Parliament, went ahead with the nuclear deal and then tried to formalise it with the help of parties that had their eyes only on money and power. The outrageous bargain for each vote has weakened democracy.
C.K. Rahul,
Hyderabad Isn
* * *
ât it ironical that most of our political parties have tunnel visions and cannot see beyond their self-interest? The BJP would have never stopped boasting had it been instrumental in signing the historic nuclear deal but opposed it in Parliament for the sake of opposition. When Chandrababu Naidu was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, he never gave the impression that he was against U.S. imperialism. Yet as an opposition leader, he talked of American hegemony and how the deal was against national interests. Mayawati opposed the deal not because she had any credible arguments against it, but because she could not see the SP aligning with the ruling party. The Left parties opposed it because of their hatred for the U.S. although, to be fair to them, they were consistent in their opposition. Seeing the theatre of the absurd played on Tuesday, the aam aadmi could only say âO tempora! O mores!â
Ramani P. Easwaran,
Bangalore
* * *
The happenings on the eve of the confidence vote made us wonder whether any sanctity is associated with the parliamentary process. An event which could change the fate of our country became a hot cake and the subject of breaking news for television channels. The primary issue â nuclear deal â took a backseat. Reports of horse-trading, backstabbing, etc., made a mockery of our democracy which is the largest and still surviving.
V. Harine,
Chennai
* * *
It is a pity that even strategic defence deals and foreign policy issues were reduced to the level of street politics. Close friends who described themselves as natural allies became enemies and parties that wanted to finish off one another became close friends overnight. Dr. Singh might have made it in the trust vote but in the process, the nationâs reputation has gone down. One should not be surprised if the present political alignments change drastically before the next Lok Sabha election.
Karavadi Raghava Rao,
Vijayawada
* * *
>Watching the Lok Sabha proceedings, it struck me that the focus of many politicians was not the nuclear deal at all. Their allegations, tone and tenor, gesticulations, animated faces, and loud clapping ⦠all these made for recreation. Then there was the spectre of the Speaker pleading with the members to observe decorum. With all this happening in the House, we could only hope and pray that the MPs would take the right decision on an issue having a far-reaching impact on the people who reposed faith in them.
Manan Rathore,
Jaipur
One group of politicians supported the nuclear deal and another opposed it and both groups claimed they were patriotic and what they said was in the national interest. Who was speaking the truth? For the common people, the trust vote was a futile exercise. They stood as mute spectators as a handful of politicians decided whether there would be another election or the UPA government would continue.
S. Sundaresh,
Bangalore
Many MPs and smaller parties hardly knew the details of the nuclear deal. They were only keen on making hay while the sun shone.
C. Sunish,
Bangalore The ruling parties claimed the nuclear deal was in the interest of the people. But do they know what the people really think about it? The government failed to feel the pulse of the nation before proceeding with the deal. Many politicians said during the debate in the Lok Sabha that they had not read the text of the deal. How, then, did they decide to have a say in the nationâs future?
S. Regis,
Chennai