K’taka mantri rubbishes BRS allegations over power crisis

Hyderabad: Refuting the allegations from BRS that Congress, which was boastful of the governance in neighbouring Karnataka was yet to resolve power-related problems, Karnataka Energy Minister K J George felt that the pink party was blowing up the issue, which had only lasted for a few days during the monsoon.

Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan, the Minister who had earlier tried to counter the claim from BRS in October spoke on the issue from Hyderabad on Thursday. He explained that some power plants in his State were shut down as part of maintenance works, during the monsoon season, causing temporary power cuts. The Minister placed the onus on the previous BJP government and held that it failed to ‘augment’ the installed power capacity during its term. He also tried to explain how the Congress after coming to power had tried its best to overcome the crisis the State had faced ‘temporarily’.

Questioning the way the BRS was trying to politicise the issue, the Minister clarified that whenever the farmers requested maximum power, it was supplied. He said that the issue which had cropped up during monsoon was resolved within five to ten days. Earlier in October, the MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha also raised the issue after opposition parties staged protests over the matter. George had then clarified that the government was committed to providing continuous five-hour power supply to the farmers. Later Kavitha had questioned what had happened to the Congress’s promise of a 20-hour power supply and alleged that the party was attempting to ‘export’ the power problems to Telangana.