Jammu, October 21: As they say, change is inevitable and no one can stop the change howsoever powerful and that is exactly what seems to be happening in India these days in general and J&K in particular.
One may ask what is so different in change as it is law of the nature but for the people of Jammu and Kashmir it is something what many don’t realize till now and many take it just as any routine change for they are adapted to the so called VVIP culture of the ruling elite of Jammu and Kashmir.
The coming of power of Narendra Modi at the centre and that of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir has written some new rules of the governance hitherto unknown to the general populace of the state.
While Narendra Modi is a man who wants to change the fortunes of the nation and has future in mind rather than the immediate electoral gains, in Jammu and Kashmir the coming of power of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is something that has changed the political equations in the state.
While PDP is a force that had tasted the power by ruling the state as well as acting as the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party has for the first time occupied the musical chairs and enjoying the power which till now seemed alien to it.
The result is that the MLAs , the ministers and even the office bearers of the party are yet to adopt to the situation that they rule the state and have to assert themselves if they want to remain relevant in the political power circles.
The MLAs of the BJP are worst hit as nobody seems listening to them in a scenario where the other alliance partner knows very well how to behave and how to get works done while those of the BJP have been pleading before the powers that be to get their works done little realizing that they are the ruling elite, but then it will take some time before it sinks into their psyche.
The Ministers on the other hand are on the mercy of the bureaucrats as most of the BP ministers are seen helpless before their commissioner secretaries with the IAS lobby turning down every request or order of the minister while those of the PDP are taken to logical end.
The stalling of the transfer of Shaleen Kabra from education department despite strong opposition from the BJP is a case in point where the PDP has prevailed while BJP remained wailing aunt and bureaucracy had the last laugh.
One wonders what these BJP ministers and the legislators are doing when their writ hardly runs in the state while for the outside world it is BJP and PDP that is ruling the state.
As some of the BJP leaders put it, it is only PDP that is ruling the state while BJP is just working as a head clerk to Mufti with no power or say of their own.
This can be gauged from the fact that the most powerful man in the BJP organization is riding a scooty and roaming like a commoner while a person of same status in the erstwhile dispensation had a fleet of cars and security trailing behind him to show his clout in the government,.
As one leader puts it he recently told the most powerful man of the BJP that had it been person of same stature of NC he would have called the chief secretary to his house and dictate terms while he is not able to call even an SHO to his house leaving aside his using a scooty to travel.
But then the silver lining here is that the politics finally seems changing and hopefully for good that is the so called VVIP culture is slowly giving way to commoners in the politics who don’t want to show their clout but their acumen to run the state.
Let’s hope the change is for good rather than bringing back the old colonial culture where a general secretary of a party was more powerful than a chief minister.