I fully agree with the estimate made on the life of Ramakrishna Hegde, in the write-up, ‘Gentleman politician passes away’ by Neerja Chowdhury IE, January 13. The author has rightly pointed out that Hegde was lacking in the killer instinct needed to reach the top in the Indian politics. It is quite true. He was not a man who would stoop to any level to make cheap compromises on matters related to public life. Had he been in the habit of making unprincipled compromises, he would certainly have continued to adorn the chief minister’s chair in Karnataka till the last day of his earthly existence. His scintillating performance as the first non-Congress chief minister of Karnataka brought him laurels. With his efficient administration and eminent leadership, he was indeed pivotal in making his party then Janata Party gain a firm grip on the state of Karnataka.

The Pan-India charisma of Rajiv Gandhi, the then prime minister, aided by the sympathy wave resulting from the assassination of Indira Gandhi, could not turn the tables on Hegde in the Karnataka state assembly elections of 1985. Hegde imperiously led his party to victory with an absolute majority. Rajiv Gandhi went so far as to suggest that Hegde would be irrelevant after the Assembly elections in 1985. But he had to eat his words after the election results had proved Hegde’s unquestionable influence. Needless to say, his own colleagues in his party proved themselves a nemesis to his majestic march towards stardom in national politics.

— R.Joseph, Ravi Balan On e-mail

Gentleman Hegde?

— Gautam Banerjee On e-mail

Hilarious

— Arunabh Sinha On e-mail

Splendid piece