This refers to the editorial "Show the maths" (March 27). Election manifestos mean nothing to the voters. Nobody reads them to decide which party to vote for. Rural voters are loyal to the parties of their cast, community, region and religion. Urban voters vote for parties based on their performance, and the incumbency or anti-incumbency factor generally governs their voting pattern. With a series of scams, unprecedented inflation and corruption under the United Progressive Alliance government, the Congress is facing strong anti-incumbency. Political parties make tall promises of introducing schemes involving massive expenditure without explaining where the money to fund such schemes comes from. There is no process that makes any party accountable for its manifesto after coming to power.
M C Joshi Lucknow
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