Raman Singh completes one year as chief minister early next year and he’s already in celebration mode. Preparations are already under way to make December 7 (Raman Singh had taken oath as CM on this day in 2003) a memorable day.A fortnight ago he celebrated ‘Rajyaotsav’ or State Foundation Day. He also spent almost Rs 100 crore in an eight-day-long birthday bash. The celebrations proceeded amidst Naxalite attacks and rising malaria deaths in tribal areas. ‘Rajyaotsav’ celebrations were followed up by Diwali and Id for over a week. Raman Singh and his ministers hosted separate Diwali Milan parties for government servants, politicians and locals. Before this, Ganesh Puja and Durga Puja also kept ministers busy for days. Singh is like Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burnt, says former home minister Nand Kumar Patel.A very static stateUntil a year ago, no state in India appeared as determined to emerge as the power hub of the nation as Chhattisgarh. It had an installed capacity of plus 1405 MW of power. Another 498 MW was available from the central pool. However, to the BJP government’s bad luck, power generation plans have got slowed down, a bitter reminder of the old Madhya Pradesh days. Last week, the shortfall increased up to 400 MW. This compelled the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board to impose a four-hour power cut on the industrial consumers.Last month the Union Ministry cut down Chhattisgarh’s 288 MW power supply from the central pool and reallocated it to Madhya Pradesh. Thus the state’s share got reduced to 210 MW. If the power crisis gets worse, then bijli, sadak, pani which was never an issue in the Assembly and Lok Sabha poll is going to haunt Raman Singh in civic bodies and panchayat polls next month.Cong in custodyThe Congress is supposed to be a strong opposition in Chhattisgarh, having 36 MLAs in the 90-member House. Yet the party has not been able to pin down the BJP government. Only the recent custodial deaths, 11 in the past six months, has prodded the Congress to investigate. After every such death, the Congress promptly set up teams to visit the spot. There have been occasions when not one team but two teams, one set by the PCC and another by MLAs loyal to Ajit Jogi, visited the spots on the same day. Some say the state PCC should now be named Congress Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
