raise to stop the Modi wave are only indicative of the fact that they are at their wits’ end of how to go about doing so. How else can you read the Congress efforts such as the raising of his marital status and the likes as a weapon against Modi? The Congress, in my opinion should read the writing on the wall and concede defeat honourably, not stoop to such lows.

Congress has had a decade to transform India and has little to show for its time in power. It should therefore take a back seat now and start serious introspection of what went wrong. Only then can it think of getting back into power in the next elections in 2019.That being said, Narendra Modi, if and when he comes into power has a gigantic task at hand. He has to take India out of the quagmire that the country has sunk into in the last decade. How he goes about doing so is going to be interesting to see. It is in this light that it is imperative that the BJP gets a clear mandate in these Lok Sabha polls. It is only if he is free from the clutter of keeping his coalition partners happy that Modi will be able to work successfully towards achieving the goals set before him. It is in this perspective that the coming months in the socio – political arena of India will be very interesting to observe.

Roshan Thapa

Sikkim

The article on the eco – friendly existence authored by Ms. Shikha Hazarika captured the essence of the topic
beautifully. It is indeed heart – warming to see the incessant efforts of the humble villagers for a peaceful co – existence. An eye – opener for us city dwellers, it helps us connect with nature and its bountiful gifts.

Megha Jhunjhunwala

Shillong

Former AGP President Chandan Mohan Patowary joining the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections this year sums up the mood of not only the electorate in Assam, but also its political leaders. It seems like most politicians are making a bee line to the BJP recruitment office as soon as they can because they know what the results of these elections are going to be – it is going to be a BJP victory without question. In spite of this, I doubt if the BJP will be able to raise its tally of MPs in the North East region of India as the party does not have a foothold here. The Congress still has a good chance of garnering a few seats from the region which will add a few seats here and there to its final tally.

 

Debojit Goswami

Guwahati

It is shameless the way the Government is trying to pull the wool over our eyes. The article on how the Assam Government organized a foundation stone laying ceremony before the polls to the 16 Lok Sabha is an insult to the intelligence of the people of the State. Do you think we don’t know what you are trying to do? Do you think that the concept of appeasement of the electorate is unknown to us? Is there no limit to the lows you will sink to in trying to bolster your chances to hold on to the reins of power? Tut, tut .......

Deepika Bargohain

Guwahati

The people of Meghalaya are suffering because of frequent power cuts that have been enforced by MeECL. After defaulting payment to power providers such as NEEPCO, MeECL has had to depend on its own generated power to meet the demands for power in the State. It is widely known that this supply of power is highly inadequate to meet this demand. Meghalaya owes NEEPCO Rs.295.34 crores and if the dues to NTPC are also taken into account, the cumulative dues of Meghalaya are to the tune of over Rs.300 crores. My questions here are – as the consumers are regularly paying their power bills on a monthly basis, why has MeECl defaulted in its payments to the power providers such as NEEPCO? How can the management sit idle while these dues were steadily rising? Where is the money that went into the account of MeECL after the consumers paid their power bills every month? What does the cost escalation of the Leshka Project have to do with all this? These are serious questions that need to be answered by the authorities.

Benjamin Lamin

Shillong

The article by Abhijit Dutta on the problems present in the education sector and the youth of the North East region was an eye - opener. The trends that the author has highlighted are not things that most people think about even though they are very true. This is an article that needs to be read by those at the helm of affairs so that constructive  and concrete measures can be taken to address the problems that have been highlighted. This article also needs to be read by the student community so that they can draw similarities to the way they study and bring in necessary changes. All in all, this is a great article which brings into focus major setbacks in students, teachers and the educational system as a whole.

Reuben Syiem

Shillong