Letter of the WeekKarnataka has suffered from bad politics in the recent past. Despite Bangalore being the IT capital of India, the city and the state need better administration. In a letter earlier this week, V.S. Ganeshan from Bangalore urged the new incumbents to concentrate on governance and exercise caution.• The BJP should use the opportunity given by the assembly poll results to concentrate on good governance and the problems faced by the people of Karnataka. It should not prioritise party interests above these. Neither should the BJP be euphoric about its victory nor should the Congress and others be despondent. Karnataka has taught a good lesson to all its politicians; they must now act responsibly. Backward march• Analysts and commentators speak volumes and write copiously about how they saw the Gurjjar crisis coming, and how everyone is handling it the wrong way. But there is precious little advice from them on what actually needs to be done. This lends weight to the old cliché, that if you don’t offer a solution you are a part of the problem. Till the other day, the Gurjjars were proud Indian citizens, with many Gurjjar men serving in the army. Today, thanks ironically to ex-armyman K.S. Bainsla, the Gurjjars are eagerly seeking to become just another “backward” tribal community.— R.P. SubramanianDelhiSuicide row• This refers to the editorial ‘Left with no time’. Your persistence in advising the Congress to press forward on the nuclear deal is admirable. Honest choices help quick decision-making, but they are limited. The Congress is wasting time calculating party gains from the alternatives available. It should have opted for snap polls when the Left made it clear that it would not allow the government to proceed further on the deal. The popular mandate should have decided the issue once for all — the Congress got it in 2004, the Left didn’t. At this stage, the deal is as good as dead for the UPA. Like P.V. Narasimha Rao’s team, the Congress will once more miss the credit it deserves for the work it has done. — H.S. Gur Hisar Oil bomb• It is time the government stopped all oil subsidies and bonds and sold petrol and diesel to private users at the market price, through the usual petrol pumps. Even if the prices of all commodities and essential services shoot up, it will at least be the true picture. Private consumption of petrol and diesel will become more prudent and car sales will drop. The government should state oil prices at the beginning of each financial year and this price should not vary across the country. Subsidised fuel should be available only to public transport, from state-owned petrol pumps. If the government desists from implementing this policy because a general election is round the corner, India’s oil-deficit bomb will explode any day. — N. AnanthMumbai
