BJP to protest against severe power crisis in Maharashtra.
The ruling Congress-NCP and the opposition parties are pitted against each other over the burgeoning power crisis in Maharashtra. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the energy portfolio, has warned the ruling ally Congress to take away his portfolio, after latter’s state unit chief called upon Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to personally explore options for dealing with the prevailing crisis effectively. Further, NCP has stepped up its attack against Congress, threatening the latter to decide if it wanted the alliance to survive.
Following the aggressive posturing by NCP, former chief minister Narayan Rane, who holds the industry portfolio, clarified it was the collective responsibility of the state cabinet to tackle the prevailing power crisis.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties have rejected the chief minister’s theory that the current shortage was not just restricted to Maharashtra, but was a national crisis. They have squarely blamed the state government and power minister Ajit Pawar for failing to plan fuel availability and smooth functioning of power plants.
There is at least a 5,000-Mw shortfall, which has forced MahaVitaran (state electricity distribution company) to carry load shedding of 6-8 hours in urban areas, and up to 16 hours in rural parts of the state. Though Maharashtra has started receiving more than 1,000 Mw since Thursday, the deficit continues. However, both Congress and NCP hope the crisis would be over by Diwali.
Both parties are unanimous on one thing: they believe the shortage of coal due to the Telengana agitation and the lack of mining in Orissa’s Mahanadi Coalfields to be the main reasons for the crisis. Besides, the Singareni coal fields have also been closed down. There has been a drastic fall in the availability of rakes, resulting in a fall in supply from Coal India and its associates. However, the allies differ over the energy department’s planning — particularly, its undertaking MahaVitaran’s — to avoid the magnitude of the crisis.
The power shortages have led to incidents of arson and damages at MahaVitaran’s offices and properties. Some of its employees have also been attacked by protesters. Incidentally, the Shiv Sena has justified these incidents and warned that the agitation against the state government would be further stepped up. Sena’s ally BJP also swung into action and threatened to launch a statewide agitation.
As expected, the opposition is bent on encashing the situation to earn political mileage ahead of elections to 195 municipalities, 10 municipal corporations and 27 zilla parishads in November and March. The state Congress added fuel to the fire by asking the chief minister to take charge for an effective handling of the crisis.
