Cash for votes must be investigated

Election staff wait with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails and Electronic Voting Machines at a distribution centre in Bikaner, Rajasthan, on Thursday. Reuters

I write in reference to Taniya Dutta's article India's election watchdog seizes record $557m of alleged illicit cash ahead of polls (April 15): political corruption, especially come election time, is one of the biggest problems facing the country right now. It is an important issue that demands public attention, but it is often overlooked because ordinary people just shrug and move on. There is plenty of analysis in print, online and television media that is focused on political strategies and vote banks. But so little, in comparison, is written about the open secret that a number of political parties offer inducements to the poor to vote for their candidates in exchange for cash or/and refreshments. Such corruption can make all the difference between a well-meaning man or woman being elected to office and losing an election.

K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India

Rains in Pakistan

Just two years after floods killed more than 1,700 people, Pakistan has once again been affected by heavy rains, leaving over 50 dead. Communication systems in some parts of the country have been destroyed and critical infrastructure damaged. For example, just 400 kilometres from Islamabad is Chitral district, where I live. Here, a link road, a pedestrian bridge, an irrigation stream and water supply pipelines have been destroyed by floods and erosion. The bridge is important for hundreds of school-going children. The irrigation system needs to be restored as soon as possible, else the arable land could risk becoming barren. This is but one example; there are so many others. One hopes that the authorities act swiftly to make the urgent repairs necessary so that life can go on again.

Gul Hamad Farooqi, Chitral, Pakistan

IPL fans deserve better

I write in reference to Paul Radley's article Successors form an orderly queue, but MS Dhoni is still the leader of IPL pack (March 27): changes made by the managements of some Indian Premier League cricket franchises have not been welcomed by their supporters. Mumbai Indians replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain, with the latter being jeered by crowds at every ground. Former Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni has been coming in to bat far lower in the order than he should be, despite the fact that the Chennai crowds love to watch him in action. It also makes little sense that Virat Kohli no longer leads Royal Challengers Bangalore. The fact is that Dhoni, Rohit and Kohli are all greatly admired by cricket lovers, so shouldn't they be at the forefront of their respective teams? The IPL must respect the desires of the fans, if it needs to stay credible.

Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai, India