Poor focus

Sir — Reaching out to young voters through social media campaigns has become necessary. However, the Congress’s social media handlers have gone overboard with reels focusing on Rahul Gandhi’s appearance — he is shown as an attractive hunk rather than a diligent leader. Instead of following in the footsteps of the saffron party’s content managers who spread propaganda videos associating the party leaders with divinity, the Congress should use social media to popularise its proposed schemes. The recent elections have proved that awareness, and not idolisation, can make or break a government.

Ravi Gupta, Meerut

Dig deep

Sir — The Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, launched a scathing attack on the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the Union home minister, Amit Shah, over the stock market crash following the election results (“Rahul: Probe Modi-Shah ‘stock market fraud’”, June 7). He accused Modi and Shah of being directly involved in one of the biggest stock market scams in India. Further, Rahul Gandhi demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged scandal to uncover the extent of the wrongdoing. Rahul Gandhi emphasised that the stock market manipulation before the poll results had contributed to enormous financial turmoil.

Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai

Sir — The stock market is usually volatile during elections. Investors get swayed by popular sentiments and are unable to make informed decisions and thus end up losing money. The Securities and Exchange Board of India allows only registered advisors to provide stock market-related advice. Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, neither of whom are SEBI-registered advisors and yet gave investment advice prior to the election results, thus hold true.

S.S. Chaudhuri, Calcutta

Sir — The stock market is affected by a number of factors. It is thus not prudent of Rahul Gandhi to blame Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for the stock market crash. There have been several upheavals in the market even during the reign of the United Progressive Alliance.

N. Mahadevan, Chennai

Faulty system

Sir — The results of the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test 2024 were declared on June 4. But the poll hubbub drowned out allegations of discrepancies in the NEET results. As many as 67 students have bagged the perfect score of 720 out of 720. Further, two candidates have secured 719 and 718 marks, respectively, which seem impossible due to NEET’s system of negative marking. While the National Testing Agency has stated that it has granted ‘grace marks’ to students, it is yet to clarify the criteria regarding the same (“NEET ‘explains’ full-marks glut”, Jun 8). Also concerning is the fact that the NTA published the results prior to the resolution of the charges of question paper leak. Students spend a considerable amount of time and money preparing for NEET and the NTA is answerable for its lapses.

Arundhati Das, Calcutta

Sir — The Congress has justifiably demanded an investigation under the Supreme Court’s supervision into the irregularities in NEET, holding the government responsible for the students’ uncertain future. Inconsistencies in the marking scheme have also come to light. The NTA’s justification does not seem to add up.

S.S. Paul, Nadia

Sir — Allegations of question paper leaks and irregularities in the marking scheme have marred NEET 2024. Transparency in the examination process is integral to restoring students’ faith in the NTA’s integrity.

Vijaykumar H.K., Raichur