Sudden chance

Sir — It is really unfortunate that the Indian wicket-keeper and batsman, Rishabh Pant, and a member of the men’s cricket team’s support staff have tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the five-match Test series against England. However, with Pant not playing, K.L. Rahul would likely get to be the wicket-keeper for India in the practice match against the Combined Counties from July 20. If Rahul plays and scores 50-odd runs and gets some catches, the problem of the opening slot could be solved for India. Rahul and the team deserve the nation’s support during the Test series.

N. Mahadevan,
Chennai

In bad taste

Sir — When the prime minister, Narendra Modi, recently applauded the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, for his ‘remarkable’ management of the deadly second wave of Covid-19 in the state, he was trying to pat his own back and forge a positive narrative of his own ‘achievements’ in the handling of the pandemic. By doing so, he made a mockery of the countless deaths witnessed in the state — the disturbing images of corpses of suspected Covid patients floating in the Ganga or buried in the sands of the river’s banks are a testimony.

It is well known that Adityanath’s government made a huge mess of the Covid-19 situation in UP. By lauding him for an ‘achievement’ he can lay no claim to, Modi betrayed his own insensitivity to the pain of those who not only lost their loved ones owing to the failure of the state government to provide timely medical care, but were also denied the chance to give their dead a dignified cremation or burial. The disturbing visuals had triggered global outrage at the appalling state of public health infrastructure in UP, where several hospitals reportedly refused to admit patients gasping for breath. Many died waiting for a bed.

The prime minister ought to have remembered that his own senior cabinet minister, Santosh Gangwar — he was recently replaced as Union minister of state for labour in the cabinet reshuffle — had written a letter to Adityanath expressing deep concern at the dismal healthcare infrastructure in UP. A sitting minister from UP, too, had shared Gangwar’s concern. By boasting that the UP government has vaccinated the highest number of persons in the country, the prime minister is misleading the nation. He is suppressing the fact that UP’s vaccination record has been one of the lowest in the country in terms of population. One would expect the prime minister of India to be more honest on matters concerning citizens’ lives and deaths.

S.K. Choudhury,
Bangalore

Sir — It was both laughable and frightening to witness Narendra Modi lavish praise on Yogi Adityanath’s handling of the Covid-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh, especially when the state government not only allowed thousands of patients to die from the lack of medical care and oxygen but also cracked down on ordinary citizens trying to seek help online. Perhaps that is the ‘handling’ of the situation that Modi admires? After all, brutality and the hiding of the truth are common in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

Radhika Seshan,
Delhi

Sir — Narendra Modi’s praise of Yogi Adityanath ought not to be taken seriously. The latter is unlikely to take ‘stepmotherly’ treatment from the prime minister lying down. When he was summoned to Delhi recently to meet Modi, it must have become clear to the latter that, unlike L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Adityanath is not a pushover. As such, Modi is handling him with kid gloves. Perhaps a mutual scratching of backs has been agreed upon?

Radheshyam Sharma,
Calcutta

Sir — One wonders if Narendra Modi based his high opinion of Yogi Adityanath’s Covid-19 interventions in UP upon a panoramic, aerial view of the state through rose-tinted goggles.

Murtaza Ahmad,
Calcutta