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November 7, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
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How Readers responded to Mani Shankar Aiyar's recent columns
Date sent: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 18:26:22 -0700
It is clear that Mr Aiyar is biased because of his leanings to the Congress. As is Ashok Mitra. The main issue as far as the BJP government is concerned is not onions, but prudent fiscal management. The Congress has been thrown out on grounds of corruption and unless they do something about it. Mr Aiyar can forget about the Congress coming into power again. Kamal
Date sent: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 04:25:49 GMT
More quack, quack and quackery from the King of Quacks.
Date sent: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 19:50:25 GMT
He is back making a fool of himself as usual. Some things never change. And what about the Congress? Take away Indira Gandhi and put in Rajiv. Take away Rajiv and put in Narasimha Rao. Remove Rao and move on to Kesri. After Kesri, it is now Sonia Gandhi. But the true nature of Congress will apparently never change -- it remains forever the last refuge of dolts like Mani Shankar Aiyar. And what can one say about Rediff which provides him an avenue to publicise his views, thereby giving a certain credence and stamp of approval to his inanities and idiocies? Just what is the motivation behind the support that Rediff continues to give to him and his party?
Date sent: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 12:40:07 -0400
This guy is obsessed with the BJP. He only sees bad things. Mani, you need some rest. Shashi
Date sent: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 16:06:24 EDT
It shows how desperate Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar are for power in Delhi. They have all enjoyed power all these years and are finding in really difficult to be in the Opposition. The BJP is the only non-Congress party to rule this great nation. I remember Mr Aiyar's promise to make his erstwhile constituency in Tamil Nadu like Dubai. Has he made sure at least one Diwali full of lights there, leave alone making it like Dubai? Mr Aiyar conveniently forgets the fact that no economy in the world is doing well except the US. Even in the US, the economic situation in Asia and Russia is strongly felt by the Wall Street. It is unfortunate that Opposition politicians are systematically carrying out a vilification and disinformation campaign against the BJP govt to pursue personal political goals.
Date sent: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 11:34:19 +0530
I have read Mani's observations about the present state of economy in our beloved country. It is very easy to criticise when you are not in the government. Can Mani Shankar suggest some remedies to improve the situation? Constructive criticism is always better. We would have appreciated if Mani Shankar had suggested some concrete and practical measures to kick-start the economy. The present government does not have an absolute majority. It depends on several parties for its survival. If at anytime after Independence any prime minister did anything to improve the economy, it was Rajiv Gandhi. Mani Shankar was an advisor to the late prime minister and he took his advice seriously. Therefore I request Mani Shankar, whom I admire for his sterling qualities and able mind, to desist from criticising just for the heck of it. People should not get this impression that Mani Shankar is a frustrated man as he left a very lucrative foreign service job to plunge into politics, but could not become foreign minister in any of the governments. V K Wadhawan
Date sent: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 07:07:01 +0100
What have we readers done to deserve this shameless family retainer of the Nehru-Gandhi family? If you wanted an anti-BJP one, there are many others who, though being against the BJP, still write objective and thoughtful columns. Get rid of this shameless chamcha or you will lose many readers!! Gopi Maliwal
Date sent: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 13:05:16 PST
I have been reading your articles in the last few weeks and would like to comment without being rude. You have absolutely no idea of what you are writing about. I think you just want to improve your writing skills. Now my honest suggestion to you is to leave India and move to a country of your choice where you will be appreciated. Also, please do mankind a favour and take your Soniaji, Dilip D'Souza, Darry D'Monte and Kuldip Nayar with you. You all come under the same category and will enjoy each other's company. Please contact me if you need a list of countries where you can move. Jai Hind
Date sent: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 12:55:48 +0800
It is not possible for anybody to make a Diwali dark within 6 months. This is the result of 40 years of useless Congress rule. Balamuralikrishnan Srinivasan
Date sent: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 08:00:40 -0800
There you go again, Mani Shankar Cryer. What Vajpayee is doing is cleaning the mess that you khadi crooks have created. Vajpayee may not have done much, but it is still his first year in office. Give him your co-operation. The other stumbling block is the President. He reads about Kerala and decides about Bihar! Narayan! Narayan! The whole world is in recession, companies that are inefficient should be closed. Make capital and other resources available and the economy will bubble again. The arcane laws created by the Congress should be repealed. Vajpayee's road building project will boost the economy. I only wish that the roads are built well and toilet and rest areas are added all along the way like in other parts of the world. Mani, your party had 50 years to prove their salt, now let the BJP have five years to prove theirs.
Date sent: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 12:22:37 +0530
Let the Congress unite their leaders first. We see quite a lot of divergent views nowadays from them. May be, that is why they are not in power.
V S Sethuraman
Date sent: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 22:40:00 +0530
Rediff, are you trying to protect this man with verbal diarrhoea? Why is it that you are hiding readers' comments about his ramblings? Is it out of loyalty to the party which once gave you ads? I certainly see a streak of Congressism in many of your columnists. Boot them out. Mani can indulge in his favourite pastime -- wagging his tail and barking at all the people his master comes across -- so that he can get a few crumbs. But let him not think that the Indian public is a lamp post. Verbosity can never make him an intellectual -- at least, the other rambler, Yechury, sounds like one. The only result of Mani's writing is that his script looks exactly like Surjeet's and Bardhan's. Who is the scriptwriter? Which nationality? Ranjit PS: Have you noted that when you spell-check Yechury, the dictionary suggests lechery, for Surjeet it suggests surrogate and for Advani it suggests advent? Don't you think these are apt?
Date sent: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 14:21:46 -0500
I thought when a leading Indian weekly stopped publishing Mani Shankar Aiyar's column, it was good riddance forever. Little did we know that he would resurface, of all the places, in cyberspace.
Date sent: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 11:50:00 -0700
Does it really matter what we think about this column? No doubt we need intellectuals on both sides of the divide, presenting their own case. One example is Jairam Ramesh, who writes as Kautilya in India Today. When he argues his case, he does enough research and presents some facts. He does not write rabid anti-BJP articles merely because he is an AICC member. But Mani Shanker Aiyar is different. His articles are nothing but a bunch of lies. Let's take the case in point: the review of parliamentary democracy. This is an honest attempt to save the nation from recurring elections that cost the exchequer in excess of Rs 20 billion every time a general election is held. It is an attempt to provide the nation a semblance of stability. This is an issue that all parties should debate in a mature and honest manner. Can a poor nation afford the luxury of parliamentary democracy when they choose neither the CEO (the prime minister) nor the chairman (the President) directly? Should they have no say in preventing the perversion of the democracy in an inexpensive manner, without having to go to the polls every year? As far as the RSS is concerned, it does not stop even if the BJP comes to power on its own. Political power is neither the means nor the end of RSS activities. Well that's beyond Mr Aiyar's comprehension. Please stop giving every issue of national importance a political colour just because you have an obnoxious habit of blind BJP-bashing. Sameer Kuppahalli |
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