PM's Achilles' Heel: Letters to The EDITOR

PM's Achilles' Heel

Reports in the print media suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to face the first rebellion within the party when his effort to cut Rajnath Singh to size met with a fiasco. Incidentally, Rajnath Singh was the second-most powerful minister during the first stint of the BJP-led government at the Centre, and as Home Minister he did a good job for the country. Nevertheless, he was replaced by Amit Shah. Then came the issue of formation of the cabinet committee. Not to speak of political experts, even ordinary citizens like us were surprised when we noted that of the eight committees formed, the name of Rajnath Singh was included only in two committees. When the news drew the attention of lesser mortals like us, we naturally waited for a reaction to come from all sections of the BJP. But it happened exactly the way we anticipated, and that too, overnight. The acrimonious criticisms from all quarters compelled Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, responsible for taking such a step, to bring Rajnath Singh back to some more committees.

From the reports in the print media, it emerges that the name of Rajnath Singh had to be incorporated in six committees. Those reports further state that still in the 'super-committee', the name of Rajnath Singh remains excluded, whereas the names of Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goel, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Arabinda Sawant are conspicuous by their presence. The unpalatable issue, thus, brings to the fore the Achilles' heel of our Prime Minister.

Ashok Bordoloi,

Dibrugarh.

To the Election Authority

Through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the attention of the authority concerned of the election department of Assam regarding the difficulties faced by students as well as teachers of Bajali College, Pathsala, a premier institution of higher education in lower Assam, due to the strict prohibition of entry inside the science and mass communication departments. This portion was occupied by the election department for smooth conduct and counting of votes during the recent Lok Sabha elections. The building was taken over by the authority before the election – the third week of April 2019 – and till the writing of this letter they have not vacated the portion.

Students of the science stream have been facing acute difficulties as they are not able to do their practical classes in the laboratories. Meanwhile, the college authority has arranged both UG and PG classes for science and arts streams in the limited classrooms available. As entry in the science block is prohibited, science stream classes are held in the arts block. But due to the limited number of classrooms in the arts building, it is not possible to accommodate all the major and general classes.

At the same time, the teachers of geography, mathematics and zoology departments are in anxiety in relation to the upcoming PG examinations. They need to arrange for the practical examinations in the laboratories in the science block before the theory papers.

Moreover, in the mass communication and journalism department, both students and teachers are having a tough time as the UG semester examination, 2019 is on. Many important documents related to the examination are in the department which is also in that area of the college where entry has been prohibited.

Therefore, I would like to draw the immediate attention of the election authority of Assam to make free entry possible in the closed area of the college campus at the earliest.

Hiyanjalee Rangra,

Mass Communication Department,

Bajali College.