Upholding Constitution

Refer to ‘Constitution a work in progress’; our Constitution is a great historical document which is a product of our social, political and cultural progress. It has provided great dynamism and diversity, and provides all citizens equal opportunities of development and growth. But it demands continual judicial activism and people’s participation in all pillars of democracy and the power structure. It is the duty of every citizen to participate in the process. Mere slogans, speeches and seminars cannot empower the Constitution. Our proactive role is vital. The Constitution is a mirror of our cultural pluralism.

Harish Saroha, Chandigarh

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Time for a relook

Everything rusts and rots with time unless reviewed and reinforced periodically. Nothing can stay strong permanently. The Indian Constitution is no exception. Despite 105 amendments, a time has come for an overall relook, for which a Constituent Assembly-like body consisting of eminent jurists, politicians, educationists and patriots must be constituted.

BRIJ BHUSHAN MITTAl, CHANDIGARH

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Show them the door

Varun Gandhi can sense a lot wrong within his own party and fails to endorse a single policy, but dare not leave it. Sanghmitra Maurya fails to defend the party she belongs to when attacked by her own father. Capt Amarinder’s wife is set to support him in an attempt to decimate the party she belongs to. Shatrughan Sinha campaigned for his wife against the official party candidate. The list is long. It is not a case of differing political ideologies of people within the family because the people in question seem to be standing against the ideologies of their own political outfits and they are sticking to their present parties just to keep intact the office of profit they are holding and are liable to lose it in the event of shifting loyalty. It’s however for the political parties to decide whether such nonsense should continue, and if not, show them the door at once.

SL Singhal, Noida

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Selection of candidates

Political parties should consider a different way of fielding candidates for elections. Rather than begging the high command for a ticket and giving all authority and power to one person or a committee, each party at the constituency level should allow its members to elect their candidate by a secret ballot. This would be a bottoms-up approach, a true grassroots democracy. People will have more ownership of the candidate. They will be highly engaged in the process and the outcome. Such a process will resolve issues, such as nepotism and parachuting of candidates who are famous but ignorant of the local situation and issues.

Ranjit Nanner, Canada

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The ‘homecoming’

Refer to ‘Harak Singh Rawat back in Congress after six years’; the expelled BJP minister’s journey back to the Congress is no ordinary development. He, along with 10 other party MLAs, had led the rebellion against his party’s government in Uttarakhand in 2016, triggering the imposition of President’s rule there. How come that not only he has been taken back into the fold, but also assured of the party ticket, along with his daughter-in-law, for the ensuing Assembly elections? Such a move could largely be aimed at creating a highly unsavoury situation for the BJP, as the state leadership may find it difficult to convince the voters about the real reasons for his recent expulsion from the party.

Kumar Gupt, New Delhi

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Reservation on merit

Reservation was introduced to uplift the backward communities of India but our political leaders made it a weapon to influence people for their vote bank. Now, 27% reservation to OBCs has been decided in NEET. Giving reservation on the basis of caste is unfair. Financially weak people can be in any community, so give everyone a fair and equal chance on the basis of merit for studies or jobs. Providing reservation makes people less skilful because they think they can get jobs or admission to government colleges easily.

Dipankar Chawla, Yamunanagar

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Early vs late risers

‘No, thank you, early risers’ is written with a pen soaked in the ink of sugary solution of witty words and smiles. There have been comparisons between early and late risers for decades. My research supervisor, riding his proud possession (a Jawa motorcycle), used to boast of early rising and claimed that early risers were way ahead of late risers. That made him arrogant too. Another friend who used to get up at 4 am would claim that their day is longer than that of the late risers as they could do more work before going to office. Tired of listening to this, I once retorted that what the early risers did before going to office was already finished by us late in the night! I believe early rising and normal (late) rising is controlled by the profession in which a person is employed.

Gurdev Singh, Mohali

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