Letters to the Editor: Rudderless Congress

The recent GMC civic polls have revealed the direction in which the Bhupen Bora-led Congress is heading towards. In majority of the wards, Congress candidates have come distant third. The biggest setback for the party was that it failed to win wards dominated by Muslim people in areas like Garigaon and Sijubari. In Garigaon which falls under ward No.1, the Congress-nominated candidate secured less than two hundred votes and again in Ward No.42 comprising Hatigaon and Sijubari, the Congress candidate secured less votes than BJP. Ripun Bora did a lot of damage to the party during his tenure but the present incumbent Bhupen Bora did the remaining damage. Probably six months back, the same Bhupen Bora tore his shirt in front of the Darrang DC office in full view of the media lens and public in protest against the eviction of the illegal encroachers by the state government. At that time, he must have wondered that he has become a messiah in front of the Muslim community of the state but the fact is that the Muslim votes have deviated from them. AAP, AJP, TMC and AIUDF are likely to benefit from the Congress's loss.

With Bhupen Bora's elevation to the post of APCC president, the lack of trust and unity amongst the top Congress leaders is clearly visible. The campaign exercise of GMC polls for Congress was shouldered by people like Manjit Mahanta, Mira Borthakur, who do not have any locus standi in the society or the political field. When the losers and rejected ones lead the campaign with an arrogant president sitting on the top, disaster is bound to happen. It is time for Bhupen Bora and company to step aside and hand over the reign to someone more competent (if at all available).

Julie Bhuyan

Gaurisagar.

Unhealthy energy drinks

In the last few months, I've noticed more and more parents purchasing caffeinated beverages in an unhealthy and dangerous amount for their children aged around 4 to 12 years. As the popularity of caffeinated energy drinks like 'Sting' grows and they appear on the shelves of nearly every store in the city, many parents who are unaware of the contents of these beverages are giving them to their very young children. These beverages have a much greater caffeine level than what is considered safe for young children to consume, and their labels invariably declare that they are not for children. Many children have developed an unhealthy addiction to these drinks and with the high amount of caffeine they consume every day, this is highly detrimental for their long-term health. It is the parents' responsibility to not buy their children whatever they want from the store without first understanding what is in them. Storekeepers also have some obligation to inform their customers about what is safe and what is not when they know it is being purchased for young children. This unhealthy and dangerous intake for the long term will potentially cause complications like rise in blood pressure, interference with sleep, less awareness of being tired, and a lack of appetite, to name a few.

Kajol Singha

Cotton University.

Politics and sports

The ongoing Russian - Ukraine war has unfortunately affected the political and financial situation of the world. It is even threatening to trigger a Third World War, the impact of which can be well felt by all peace-loving people of the globe, not even sparing the sports fraternity. The recent decision by the Wimbledon tournament committee to ban the Russians tennis players from participating in this most prestigious Grand Slam tennis event with rich tradition is a pointer in this direction.

We still believe that there should be sports in politics but not otherwise.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury

Guwahati.

Extra territorial loyalty

We all know that the MPs and the MLAs are the lawmakers of the nation who are supposed to abide by our Constitution. The Prime Minister is the chief executive and the President is the head of the government who is duly elected by the lawmakers. Recently, Assam Police arrested one such lawmaker belonging to INC in Kokrajhar. The said lawmaker from Gujarat travelled all the way from his state to Kokrajhar to evade arrest for passing some derogatory comments against the duly elected Prime Minister of the nation, Narendra Modi. Once again, as expected our compulsive opposition leaders belonging to Congress, AIUDF and independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, joined hands together to rescue the erring MLA from Gujarat. May be our duly elected PM is not their PM which simply shows their extra territorial loyality.While, doing so they carried a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury.

Guwahati.

Poor performance in IPL

Sports can take a team to dizzying heights, and equally it can pull the team down to earth, inflicting crushing blows. Perhaps, no IPL franchise other than Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians would have realized this fact better. With nine IPL titles between them in 14 seasons, CSK and MI are seen as the template for success. The two teams often faced each other in IPL finals. But all that changed in the last three editions. In 2020, when the tournament was relocated to the UAE because of the pandemic, CSK failed to make the last-four stage, but MI won the title. Last year, when the second half of the tournament was held in the UAE again for the same reason, the scenario was the other way round. While MI is already out of the IPL 2022, CSK's chances of qualifying for the play-offs are remote after their loss to PBKS in the last game. In such a scenario, both will not figure for the knockout phase this year. So pathetic their performance has been so far in 2022 that they don't deserve to be among the last four. What happened to their time-tested winning formula?

Ranganathan Sivakumar

Tamil Nadu