A letter to Dr. Amartya Sen

Dr. Amartya Sen,

Littauer Centre 205,

Department of Economics,

Harvard University,

Dear sir,

I have been an avid follower of all your statements but the following two statements of your have increased my already very high esteem I have of you.

Lack of leadership in Congress: Amartya Sen

Kolkata: Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen on Friday said there was lack of leadership in Congress and the party could not fulfil what the people expected.

"What the people have expected that Congress could do did not happen. There was reason to believe that there is dislike for Congress in the country. That is why they could not do well in the (assembly) elections," he said.

Sen said "it can be said that there was lack of leadership in the party because (their) leader is yet to be decided. I have heard it will be done," Sen told a vernacular TV channel here.

"For giving good leadership, they have to emphatically tell the people who is the leader, what is his view. It is not possible to give a political fight without presenting it before the people," he said.

Recently when asked if he thought Congress should formally declare Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate, Sen had said "they have to have a game strategy.

"Election is not won by promising to win election. I don't know what Congress strategy is at this time in winning the election." Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) gets Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's thumbs-up, eggs it on to become 'major force'

On the rise of Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he said he welcomed it very much although he had been skeptical of the likelihood of its performance.

"In this case there are two reasons to be delighted—one that it has happened and second - we Indians are unduly pessimistic and anything that demonstrates that they have gone for optimism must be a good thing. So from both points of view I'm delighted."

Sen said he thought the challenge for Aam Aadmi was very easy in Delhi and hoped that the new party would become a very major force for Indian politics dominated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress aside from sundry other regional parties.

Amartya Sen was talking to TV channel NDTV on wide ranging topics, including the Aam Aadmi Party.

As you are aware Bengal has been in the doldrums for the last 35 years. First the CPM and now the TMC have massacred the economy of Bengal. Seeing your above statement gives me hope that you too feel the same and have confidence in AAP.

AAP is looking for suitable candidates for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. If you could suggest suitable candidates whom AAP could put up, we would be most obliged.

Further, you know that AAP depends upon donations of the common man to run its election campaign. For the Delhi elections we had a budget of 20 crores only which we could meet in one year of donations. For the 2014 elections our budget is around 50 crores which is to be collected in 5 months. Our budget for this month is 7 crore but we have been able to collect only 1.0 crores up to the 19th. As an Indian, I would request you to donate also, in case you already haven't.

Best regards,

Radheshyam Sharma

188, Bangur Avenue,

B-Block,

Kolkata - 700055

Cell: 9331259878