Power crisis: Why Jaya’s displeasure against Centre is justified

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s letter on Tuesday to the prime minister Manmohan Singh, criticising the Central PSUs’ poor performance aggravating the power shortage in the state, betrays the ruling party’s anxiety that it might affect the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections. Power crisis was the biggest challenge before Jayalalithaa when she became the chief minister in 2011. With a shortage of roughly 4000 MW, the state, including the industrial hubs, went without electricity for several hours daily. It had a cascading effect on several sectors. [caption id=“attachment_125328” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image.[/caption] However, over the last several months, the situation seemed to have improved and in October the chief minister announced in the state assembly that the days of power shortage in Tamil Nadu were over. She even said that by 2014, Tamil Nadu will be a power surplus state. “When it is said now, everybody believes this as nearly 99 percent of that has been achieved,” she said. She had also highlighted how a debt-ridden power utility, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), has been resurrected. Because of the DMK government, the TNEB had accumulated a loss of Rs. 40,375 crore and the Reserve Bank of India had asked banks not to lend to them money, she said on the floor of the house. The TNEB was back in a healthy position and it would further improve along with the power situation. In fact, the improvement of the power situation as well as the financial health of the TNEB were notable achievements of the Jayalalithaa government. The power crisis had affected normal life and industries, particularly medium and small units, and had become a serious political issue. Had it continued, it would have certainly become the single most important issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Slipping back to such a situation is, despite the concerted efforts of the state government and achieving progress, not good news for the government. Power cuts are back, particularly in the districts. If it worsens, it’s bad news for AIADMK, which wants to sweep the polls. Ever since she came to power, Jaya has been very clear to her party workers that she wants to win all the 39 seats. With a fractured mandate on cards, she knows this is the best opportunity to play a critical role at the Centre. Detailing how the central units are causing much of the shortage, Jaya suspects political foul play. When all her efforts are nullified by the huge shortfall in the central contribution, it’s only natural to feel aggrieved, that too with elections round the corner. “Continued poor performance by the central PSUs causing shortfall in power supply would only lead the people of Tamil Nadu to come to the conclusion that there is a concerted conspiracy to keep the state in the dark,” she said. An improvement of the central PSUs’ contribution looks unlikely any time soon and Jaya realises that making it public and hitting out against the Centre is the right strategy before her opponents, mainly the DMK and the Congress, use it against her. Both the DMK and Congress are sure to make it a poll issue, but then Jaya would have already established that it is a calculated plot by the Congress at the centre to discredit her government. She can also take the fight to their camp charging how the shortfall has affected the people, despite her best efforts. Available information indicates that the situation is unlikely to improve any time now. If the north east monsoon also fails, it will be a major issue for the elections.