Sir — As the world waits with bated breath for the final season of Game of Thrones, it can be instructive to look at one of the most powerful messages that it leaves. Here we see a host of women leaders shaping the future of the seven kingdoms. Be it the evil Cersei, the fearless Daenerys, the indomitable Arya or the brave Sansa, it is the women who survive and take charge where the men either fail to do so or are murdered. It is encouraging that this is mirrored in the real world with the rise of leaders like Jacinda Ardern, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Rima Roy,

Calcutta

Plastic politics

Sir — The general elections are upon us again and there is one or the other political rally taking place every day all over the country. Once again, it is the environment that will be the victim of this inane spectacle of vote-mongering. Once the rallies are over, the venues — often stretches of greenery — lie littered with plastic waste and debris strewn by the crowd of supporters. The organizers of the rallies expend little to no effort in cleaning up the mess they leave behind and the municipal corporation takes a long time going about it. Non-perishable waste gradually clogs up drainage and water bodies, and creates ecological problems. Sometimes the chemicals that leach from this waste mixes with the groundwater.

The latest offender in this regard was the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by none other than the prime minister himself. The area around Brigade Parade Grounds was left covered with plastic waste in the aftermath of the recent BJP rally. This belies Narendra Modi’s claim of working to keep India clean.

The root of the problem, though, lies in the mindset of the people. They do not think twice about littering as long as it is outside their homes. They need to be educated about how they share the environment with everyone else and how polluting it affects all of us equally. Political parties need to remind their supporters not to bring edibles in plastic bags, instead of conveniently looking the other way to attract larger crowds. Surely, as leaders, their responsibility towards the country should be prioritized over their tendency to serve their own interests? The environment has been critically damaged by decades of neglect and nonchalance. It is no longer alright for it to take the back seat.

U. Bhattacharjee,

Calcutta

Sir — The recent BJP rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds was no different from those conducted by any other political party. The next morning, images appeared of the Maidan area littered with plastic, Styrofoam plates and so on that the rally-goers had carelessly strewn. In the party’s defence, it employed volunteers to clean the field. This is praiseworthy. But Narendra Modi has been known to brandish a broom to promote Swachh Bharat on occasion; why did he not help out the members who undertook the cleaning of the area?

Rahul Bhattacharjee,

Calcutta

Parting shot

Sir — Most political parties give tickets to members from the film fraternity in order to woo voters. Television and film personalities are also employed to campaign for the parties. While some of these celebrities are genuinely interested in politics and working for the people, most others do little productive work after being elected. Not only are they unaware of the needs of the people in their constituency, they are also not interested in the betterment of their party. As such, they turn out to be a liability.

Further, what these personalities do not understand is that while they can attract voters with their popularity and glamour, these do not help in the long run. What is needed to stay on in the hearts of people is service to ordinary citizens on the ground. There are some excellent examples of celebrities who actually worked for the people. Stars of today should learn from the likes of MGR, Jayalalithaa and Sunil Dutt who carved a place for themselves in the hearts of the people through their hard work.

M. Pradyu,

Kannur, Kerala