Fissures in INDIA
No political party worth its salt would like to concede even an inch of its turf in this political battle of one upmanship (Page 1, “Mamata rules out LS election alliance with Cong. in West Bengal” January 25). What is needed in this alliance of parties is for their leaders and cadres to ensure that there is some give and take in seat sharing so that their larger objective can be achieved. The Congress should have settled for less in States like West Bengal where Mamta Banerjee rules the roost. It is up to the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to reach out to all the parties in the bloc and ensure that there is a viable deal.
Bal Govind,
Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Even though the development is not unexpected, the timing of the announcements by the two key constituents in the alliance should be cause for worry. The possibility of a few more partners leaving the bloc in the days ahead, citing their own compulsions or by blaming the Congress party for overlordship cannot be discounted. A truncated Opposition is no match for the unified BJP-led alliance
V. Johan Dhanakumar,
Chennai
Spin to win
Spin bowling has always been the strength of the Indian cricket team (‘Opinion’ page – ‘Data Point’, “Spin dominance propelled India to invincibility at home”, January 25). One has the ‘famous four’ (Bishen Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and B.S. Chandrasekhar) in the past, followed by Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, and now Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
It cannot be denied that most pitches in India help spinners a great deal.
Balasubramaniam Pavani,
Secunderabad
It is an undisputed fact that the Indian team’s aura of invincibility had plenty to do with the overwhelming success of its front line spinners over the years. However, while refraining from discounting the ability of the spinners to deliver the goods, it has to be admitted that the Indian tracks for Test matches have always been spin friendly. Statistics on Indian spinners over the years would show that they have taken most of their scalps in games played in India.
C.V. Aravind,
Bengaluru
