A Meaningless Exercise
Foregone conclusion of floor test in J&K is inviolable
Academically it might make some sense but in real terms the wild guessing game over the fate of the Congress-led coalition government is purposeless. The government has been maimed from within with the amputation of its second most important organ, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Functionally, it remains paralysed. Even when it was supposed to be in the pink of its health, the coalition wasted more of its time in internecine battles than serving any useful purpose. The government's pathetic failure to intervene in the recent upheaval in Kashmir Valley, until its abject surrender that too belated and at a heavy human and social cost, coupled with its helplessness to contain the fallout in Jammu region, revealed the actual worth of this set up. In short, dead or alive, it makes no material difference to those whose choice it is supposed to represent and for whose service it claims to be there.
Governor NN Vohra has asked chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to prove his majority on the floor of the state assembly on July 7, following the exit of the PDP from the coalition and withdrawal of its support. To that extent it is the ritualistic part of the exercise which for the above reasons is rendered futile in any case. Whatever the eventual outcome of the floor test, it is not going to make any difference to the drooping graph of the coalition's public standing. Nor, for that matter, is the outcome going to cause any surprise whichever way the unpredictable head count finally goes. Jammu and Kashmir has the dubious history of the 'King's Party' prevailing under all circumstances. Only fools would dare to differ. The Kings Party does not necessarily mean some local contraption. The King's throne is far away in Delhi and it is his (or her) side that must win every such trial here in Kashmir.
Those wasting time on permutation and combination to satisfy their curiosity may be surprised by the magical outcome. If that were not so, where is the need for a floor test or why this guessing over the result when all the cold statistics added up to the certain defeat of the Azad government. The numbers game is statistically against him and yet he has the audacity to boast that he has the majority with him. At least on this one point, our chief minister's faith looks to be in the right place. And who would know it better than Azad the great survivor in the jungle politics of the Congress party. That is why he is not bothered even though the known facts do not support his optimism. He will continue if Delhi wants him to, and he would have to go if Delhi so wills. Rest all is tamasha. All the noise that the National Conference, PDP and the small change of the state politics is making has no material significance. Posturing by these parties/groups is deceptive.
Another factor adding to irrelevance of this exercise is that the present legislative assembly is left with only a few months of its stipulated 6-year tenure. Whether the government survives on the floor or not will not affect its performance in such a short period. Again, a peculiarity of this state, the party in power is usually 'allowed' by those who hold the remote control to remain seated through the elections to ensure its return subject to the 'master's' faith in its loyalty. The Congress, NC and the PDP, in this regard, are hardly different from each other, notwithstanding their deceptive appearances for local consumption. All of them have played their assigned respective roles from to time and all of them are ever ready to do it again-and again.

Power crisis in Jammu
To ensure judicious use, move beyond rhetoric
For the past two days, three districts of Jammu region viz., Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch have been facing severe power crisis after a major fire broke out in one of the transformers in Grid Power Station Gladni in Narwal on Wednesday night on account of some technical snag as initially was maintained by the minister. Immediately after the fire incident, besides attaching 8 officials for negligence, judicial inquiry was ordered by the concerned minister on the pretext that this was the second incident of its kind. Yet this step can certainly be no solution to this crisis or the problems being faced by the masses. Since Gladni Power Station with the capacity of 400 MVA in Narwal is the mother Grid station feeding supply to the most of the areas in Jammu division so the power supply of almost eighty percent of Jammu city, its outskirts besides Rajouri and Poonch districts was virtually snapped. Given the extent of damage to the transformers, the repairs were still on and the power supply could not be resumed fully even after two days. Going by the versions of the minister and concerned officials, it may take few more days even a month to fully restore the power supply in the affected areas. For the time being there shall be net shortfall of power supply to the extent of 160 MVA thus the rotation curtailment on round the clock basis in various time slots to the extent of 10-12 hours a day is being effected. To tackle the crisis, the Minister of State for Power Babu Singh has appealed the masses to use the power judiciously. However the appeal would continue to be rhetoric till those at the helm of affairs themselves adhere to this golden rule with all sincerity and emerge as an ideal example to be emulated by the masses. This has always been an irony that the ministers and the concerned department officials off and on issue long-winded statements and advertisements and give sermons urging the public consumers not to waste the power and prescribing the ways and means to use it judiciously but when it comes to their own conduct, the records of Power Development Department (PDD) stare in disdain. Infact the judicious use of power is warranted not just during emergency conditions. This practice should be adhered to even during normal circumstances. But it is no secret that whether it is the matter of payment of power dues or its judicious consumption, in both the cases the VVIPs including the ministers and bureaucrats are the major defaulters or wrongdoers.