The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka fell under the weight of its contradictions (Page 1, “Kumaraswamy govt. loses trust vote”, July 24). Nobody expected it to complete a full term of five years because a lack of trust and mutual understanding between the Congress and the JD(S) was palpably evident in its functioning. The BJP-‘engineered’ defections were only a catalyst. It appears naive to look for sinners and saints in an ‘all is fair’ no-holds-barred game of chasing political power. The Congress party needs to be reminded that it sowed the seeds of a political culture of political desertions by fence-sitters and other opportunists who sold their loyalty to the highest bidder in the 1970s. It is pointless to catastrophise the political churn in Karnataka as the demise of democracy. We should be more worried about the real threats such as the criminalisation and plutocratisation of politics.

V.N. Mukundarajan,

Thiruvananthapuram

Elections will make no sense if a person who is elected on a party ticket resigns, joins another party and in the process topples the very party on whose ticket he was elected. This is a clear example of money power having its say. Instead, the seat should be declared vacant and fresh elections held within a month. Otherwise, the menace of floor-crossing will remain. Also, the law relating to anti-defection has not served its purpose. In fact, it legitimises group defections. One would have thought that the BJP, with its massive electoral majority, will focus on governance. On the contrary, the ugly feature one is witnessing is other political parties that are in power in States not being allowed to govern. We are heading towards a totalitarian State. It is for the people to decide.

N.G.R. Prasad,

K.K. Ram Siddhartha,

Chennai

The BJP has lost its credibility as the preception is that it has used unethical and coercive practices to encourage defection. It is a tragedy that all their manoeuvrings were orchestrated very openly, unmindful of the repercussions on the party. Toppling State governments headed by the Opposition parties seems to be first in the priority list of the BJP. It is indeed the first step towards fructifying the ‘one country, one election’ concept being promoted by the ruling dispensation.

Tharcius S. Fernando,

Chennai

The BJP cannot take any pride in winning the trust vote against the Kumaraswamy government. Low-grade politics involving crossovers, the use of muscle and money power and resort politics in order to grab power have cast a shadow on Karnataka politics. It will not be a cakewalk for BJP to run the government as what happened could come back to bite the party.

D. Sethuraman,

Chennai

The felling of the coalition government in Karnataka through orchestrated resignations is nothing short of a murder of democracy. One wonders how much money might have been spent on these kinds of defections and from where such money comes from even after demonetisation. It is time the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution is amended to make all kinds of defections illegal, including ‘two-thirds mergers’. Elected members should understand that the people’s mandate is not saleable property. After Karnataka, we could be in for more drama — in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

K. Muhammed Ismayil,

Koduvally, Kerala