Show of wealth

Show of wealth
Garlanding Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati with a garland of rupees was an ostentatious and brazen show of wealth (‘Behenji will now be greeted only with garlands of notes’, DNA, March 18). She has been rightly given the sobriquet of Daulat ki beti rather than Dalit ki beti.
Hemant Hemmady, Virar

A win-win situation
Apropos ‘The ‘Hurt’ Locker’ (DNA, March 11), the writer is one of the few journalists in the print medium to make an effort in calling the politicians crooks of the highest order though he has couched it in a respectable term by calling them businessmen. The purpose of reacting to the article is this. The Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB) is the WMD (weapon of mass destruction) for a lot of male politicians. As rightly pointed out by the writer, the WRB will give more power to the party bosses. Thus any politician worth his/her crooked salt has only four years (as six months post election and six months nearing the term he/she will be busy in consolidating/lobbying) to amass wealth to ensure their future and their progeny’s. So could we place a citizen plan in thwarting these politician’s plans of AWBI (amassing wealth beyond imagination)? For starters, there should be a hue and cry for introducing amendments in the election bill for the right to recall a non-performing elected representative. To also help the politician who has spent a fortune in getting elected, a proposal to allot 15% of the GDP as commission every year to be shared by the elected representatives must be cleared. This will have a tax subsidy too. There is nothing wrong in paying a ‘commission’. At least in this manner there can be some development.
Ashok Balaji, via email

Temporary setback
Seeing massive resistance to the Nuclear Liability Bill, the government has refrained from tabling the bill for the time being (‘Govt defers introduction of nuclear liability bill’, DNA, March 16). The national security advisor is trying to woo the BJP to support the bill. However, since the BJP originated the idea of a Nuclear Liability Bill, it is likely to soften its stand.
VM Swaraj, Chennai

Need more substance
The new team announced by Nitin Gadkari lacks the punch needed to revive the BJP (‘Gadkari’s inclusive act may open old fissures in BJP’,  DNA, March 17). Hema Malini and Navjot Sidhu will draw crowds but whether their  presence will draw votes is a big question. Where are the vote-getters?
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola