By reserving unprecedented power without having to face the daily grind of running a country and dealing with the whims of difficult allies Sonia Gandhi has achieved the impossible feat of having her cake and eating it too ("Sonia Strikes Back", May 31).

Nalini Vijayaraghavan, Thiruvananthapuram

Dynastic perpetuation becomes inevitable in a society where people are both illiterate and sentimental but Sonia has endeared herself to one and all. India, for the first time, will have technocrats as heads of state and government. She has used her legacy wisely.

Hiren Shah, on e-mail

Sonia had come into politics through the backdoor by virtue of being Rajiv Gandhi's wife. However, she has now redeemed herself through the "front door" by refusing to become prime minister.

Krishnamurthy N.V., on e-mail

The manner in which Sonia cleared Manmohan Singh's path to the prime ministership was wonderful. She ensured that there was no tussle for leadership while maintaining the unity of the party and the allies.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

Where is the question of "sacrifice" when there is no clear mandate in Sonia's favour? Besides, the mandate does not indicate that her foreign origin is a non-issue. But I must add that whatever her reasons, Indians will always appreciate her for refusing to take advantage of the ignorant masses who are unaware of the difference between a state, country and continent. For them Italy could well be a place in their neighbouring state.

Meena Narasimha, Mysore

The drama enacted by Congressmen over Sonia's refusal to accept the prime minister's post is a sad reflection of the functioning of the biggest democracy in the world. The manner in which they addressed her as "prime minister" is evidence of the sycophancy rampant in the Congress.

Krisnaswami, on e-mail

By retaining chairmanship of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Sonia has lowered the status of the prime minister to second place as her nominee and deputy chairman of the CPP. This goes against the norm that the prime minister is the leader of the ruling party's parliamentary body.

S.D. Kulkarni, on e-mail

Sonia has managed to avert the exposure of her personal limitations and unsuitability for running a government. Her image is, in fact, the creation of the sycophantic Congress and a large section of the media which never tires of glorifying her.

Anil Kowshik, Shirali

In the Right Place

The new "Mr Clean" at the helm of affairs has a tough and challenging time ahead of him ("Sonia's Choice", May 31). The United Progressive Alliance Government should strengthen Manmohan Singh's hands so that he can ensure all-round progress.

Nirip Jeet Singh Grewal, Chandigarh

Manmohan is known as the original reformer and he is the best choice for prime minister. Under his guidance and leadership, India will definitely improve its economic performance.

Niket Mall, on e-mail

Manmohan's government will be appreciated if it avoids the mistakes of the NDA government and detoxifies the nation from the culture of intolerance, dodgy textbooks, trishuls, destruction of manuscripts and bans on books.

Anusha Singh, on e-mail

Striking at the Root

It is good to know that people have woken up to the threat posed by TB ("The New Weapons", May 31). In India, this disease needs to be viewed in the context of the urban poor. Adult or reactivation TB is largely a result of poverty, squalor, ignorance and malnutrition. If authorities remove these root causes we would see a large drop in the spread of TB.

P. Madhok, Mumbai

Losing Ground

It is a pity that Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who really deserved another term, lost due to the overconfident and reckless campaigning by his party ("An Early Sunset", May 24). Maybe it is time to adopt the American Constitution in this regard and allow the citizens to elect their head of the government directly and not through elected members.

Ashutosh Paranjape, Pune

The moral of E-2004 for the NDA and particularly the women members of the BJP is that you can fool some of the people all the time but not all the people all the time.

Praveen Singh Rathore, on e-mail

Now that the new Government has taken charge it is time for the media to do some soul-searching on whether it was unfairly biased in favour of Vajpayee and the BJP. The credibility of the media has taken a severe beating and it needs to assess its mistakes honestly and try to make amends.

Daman Prakash Jain, Chennai

Going Wrong

N. Chandrababu Naidu failed to leverage technological advances to his advantage ("Mega Byte Victory", May 24). He should have realised that technology is at best a means and not the end.

Colonel (Retd) Kailash Mehta, Mohali

Thanks to anti-incumbency, Andhra Pradesh has lost a chief minister with a vision. But it is surprising that the very media which never wrote that he would be in trouble because of the plight of the farmers, is now accusing him of neglecting them.

J. Akshobhya, Hyderabad

Waste of Space

Recent events have proved that featuring Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh on your cover was unwarranted ("Inside Mulayam's Mind", May 10). They are fast losing importance because they have done precious little for the people they claim to represent.

Manoj Kshirsagar, on e-mail

Clarification

In the guest column by Ashutosh Varshney, the denominator for the "poor" and "very poor" is 200 and not 100 ("Towards a Gentler India", June 7). So the percentages should be 23 instead of 46 and 22 instead of 44. The argument remains the same.

-editor