Just publicity

Just publicity
The high voltage drama of ‘dharna’ by  Chandrababu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, at Babhali dam site ended when the  Maharashtra government withdrew the cases against him and forcibly packed him back to Andhra (‘Naidu packed off, state drops cases in face-saver’, DNA, July 21). The highly publicised and politically motivated protest, ostensibly in the interest of the Telangana region, was a damp squib. Naidu’s sudden interest in protesting against the Babhali dam project is motivated by the forthcoming by-elections in Telangana. It is not surprising that his attempts to politicise the issue failed as people of the border areas saw through his game. They know that the Supreme Court, by the stipulations in its ruling, has already protected their interests and Naidu’s protest was a dumb charade to get some political mileage.
—VVS Mani, Bengaluru

Change needed
The article ‘Coach is serial offender, says former skipper’, (DNA, July 22) was an eye-opener. There are many such Kaushiks in various sports and who are there due to their political connections to make a fast buck and not because of love for sports. This is precisely the reason why India is lagging behind; all sports delegations are full of sycophants of ministers/leaders. We wish the sports ministry will learn a lesson from this and initiate corrective action starting from the Commonwealth games commencing in October.
—SG Shenoy, Mumbai

Greedy expectations
Our MPs are a pampered lot (‘Salary hike bill first, two vital bills can wait ‘,DNA, July 21). How does the joint committee justify its recommendation for the five-fold increase in their salaries and allowances? Is there a sudden rise in their workload to call for such a raise? In fact, it is open to question as to how many of them speak in Parliament for the people they represent. As for their contention that the last hike in salaries and allowances was 10 years back, they are trying to cash in on the short public memory. And, with tacit approval from above, they are helping themselves to public money.
—KK Wajge, Mumbai