Power politics

Even as newly appointed Power Minister Veerappa Moily avoids naming the people responsible for grid failures on consecutive days, there is clear-cut evidence pointing to Akhilesh Yadav, the young and inexperienced chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Apparently, his predecessor Mayawati used to draw power from three grids, whereas Yadav chose to draw power from the northern grid alone, causing it to collapse. At his first press conference, Moily steadfastly ducked queries on who was responsible for overdrawals, saying that a report would be submitted in 15 days. When a journalist pointed out that official figures showed that Uttar Pradesh overdrew 1,000 million units, Moily, a veteran politician, replied, “I don’t want to start with the blame game.” No doubt the Congress’ recently developed warm feelings for Yadav’s Samajwadi Party has something to do with his reticence.