EC should strive for a free and fair poll

Sir, The proposal from the Election Commission to ban exit polls till the elections are over, is welcome. Opinion polls and exit polls will sway the voters in favour of the party that is presumed to win the election, thus nullifying the very purpose of the election. There are many more things that the EC should contemplate in conducting a free and fair election. Promising free gifts like colour TVs, stoves etc in the guise of welfare schemes should be banned and those who make such declarations should be debarred from contesting elections.
The candidates contesting election can promise anything like civic amenities, bus shelters, libraries, parks and free bus tickets for students etc but not free gifts for votes. The EC should find ways to discourage businessmen from intruding into the sphere where public interest should be the criterion.

V Kameswaran
Bangalore

Avoid cacophony

Sir, We pride on the fact that India is the biggest democracy in the world, but we do not realise that we lack the civility of countries like Britain, Sweden and other European countries in conducting elections devoid of social tensions. The current tensions in Karnataka, even within a particular political party in the selection of candidates, is a forerunner to much bigger things to come during the election campaign in the next month. The least that the parties can do is to avoid violence and cacophony during campaigning.

S S Nagaraj
Bangalore

Sorry state

Sir, It’s appalling to see the state of the game of hockey in its motherland. After the Chile disaster, now Jothikumaran, general secretary, Indian Hockey Federation has been caught red handed accepting bribe. This does not augur well for Indian hockey. It’s well known that every game thrives under the encouragement it receives from the fans and followers of the game, from which our hockey team has been deprived of. Sports lovers are interested only in cricket. Unless the general public urges for the reform of hockey, it  will not change.

Devendra L Abbigeri
Dharwad

Munde rule

Sir, Apropos Munde assured of prominence in party (DH, April 23), one wonders how fake is BJP’s demand that they are a party with difference, where indiscipline is not tolerated and where dynasty is a bad word. Gopinath Munde not only attacked BJP leadership but also washed dirty linen in public. Munde is running the Mumbai BJP unit in such a whimsical manner that he gets all MLAs and MLCs to pass a resolution in his support. This drama proved that the BJP is quite helpless to take strong action against a rebellion.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee
Faridabad

Dalits’ plight

Sir, The UPA Government that proudly claims to have achieved a great milestone by providing 27 per cent reservation in elite institutions should take note of the fact in Ahmedabad, over 100 members of 19 Dalit families are spending their days in makeshift camps in front of the Banaskantha District Collector’s office in Palanpur for the last seven months because they have nowhere to go. They have been forced to migrate from their native village, Bukna in Vav taluka, after a Dalit was murdered following a quarrel with some caste Hindus of the village over a passage through the Dalit’s household plot to their fields.

S Sathiyamoorthy
Nagpur