Chelsea blues

Sir — Many a romantic ballad has been written about the fact that we do not realise the value of someone until he or she is gone. The fans of the English football club, Chelsea F.C., will undoubtedly be feeling this sentiment. After the club was purchased by its latest owner, it decided to part ways with the team manager, Thomas Tuchel. The fans were upbeat about the promising new manager, Graham Potter. The club supported him by signing several players. However, things have quickly gone south for the club, which is going through a particularly rough patch. Chelsea is surely missing Tuchel now.

Rajesh Mondal, Calcutta

Decisive victory

Sir — The recent assembly elections in the three northeastern states were crucial not only with respect to government formation but also vis-à-vis the upcoming Lok Sabha elections (“Centre stage”, Mar 3). The Bharatiya Janata Party is aware of this. That is perhaps why it has strived to form coalitions with regional parties to come to power. In Tripura, the debutant Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance has eaten into the vote share of the Left Front-Congress alliance considerably, allowing the BJP to reach the majority mark on its own. In Meghalaya and Nagaland as well, the BJP is expected to be part of the governments formed by Neiphiu Rio and Conrad Sangma, respectively.

Abhijit Chakraborty, Howrah

Sir — The BJP’s lotus has bloomed in the Northeast. The saffron party won the people’s mandate in Tripura, while its allies, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and the National People’s Party, have retained power in Nagaland and Meghalaya, respectively. The comprehensive wins will boost the morale of the BJP before the 2024 general elections.

D.V.G. Sankararao, Andhra Pradesh

Sir — The credit for the BJP’s excellent performances in the Northeast must go to the prime minister, Narendra Modi (“Day of gains for BJP in the Northeast”, Mar 3). The move to replace Biplab Kumar Deb as the chief minister of Tripura in May 2022 proved to be a masterstroke. The meteoric rise of the Tipra Motha may have caused some jitters in the BJP camp, but the saffron party eventually cornered 39% of the vote share to comfortably reach a majority along with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura. Further, with victories in 12 constituencies in Nagaland, the BJP has managed to retain the same number of seats that it had won in 2018.

Jayanta Datta, Hooghly

Staunch critic

Sir — Rahul Gandhi was trenchant in his criticism of the Narendra Modi regime at Cambridge University. His assertion that democracy is under attack in India is not untrue. The manner in whichministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party and television anchors alike have accused him of ‘maligning the country on foreign soil’ shows that his words have hit home. It is strange that an Opposition leader who criticises the government is accused of defaming the country. The two things are not the same. Rahul Gandhi deserves to be praised for speaking truth to power even at the cost of being denigrated as an enemy of the nation.

G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sir — During a recent lecture at Cambridge University, the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, launched a scathing attack on the Indian government, alleging that the Israeli spyware, Pegasus, had been used to snoop into the phones of Opposition leaders like himself. He was justified in claiming that the nation is “facing an attack on the basic structure of democracy”. Rahul Gandhi’s comments reveal the rift between the ruling party and the Opposition.

Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai