Letters to The Editor — February 7, 2026

In Parliament

Whenever the Bharatiya Janata Party government is on a sticky wicket, it resorts to certain ‘tactics’. This time it was the bogey of the Opposition ‘planning to attack’ the Prime Minister in Parliament (“Told PM to avoid LS as Cong. MPs planned an ‘unexpected act’: Birla”, February 6). As the Opposition was armed with important and issues to corner the government on — first, the revelations of a former Army Chief in his book on the India-China conflict of 2020, and second, the rights of India in the trade deal with the United States even at the cost of India’s long-standing relationship with Russia, and the welfare of Indian farmers and local manufacturers — the ruling party’s game plan was quite evident.

Can the Prime Minister miss a session in Parliament on an important occasion when the entire nation is under his command?

Tharcius S. Fernando,

Chennai

The BJP in Tamil Nadu

The article, “Why the BJP struggles in Tamil Nadu (Opinion page – ‘State of Play’, February 4), was a neat prognosis of the failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu. The observation that there is a shift from the Bhakti movement to the self-respect movement which has been anti-Brahmanical and hostile to Brahmin rituals and Sanskrit modes of worship is pertinent. Another reason is that the BJP is looked upon as an upper-caste party and cannot replace the Dravidian parties which stand by the oppressed.

N.G.R. Prasad,

Chennai