The Opposition Congress on Monday demanded resignation of the B.S. Yeddyurappa-led BJP government for its “failure” to ensure supply of adequate power in Karnataka.
Initiating a debate on the power crisis, Congress leader in the State Assembly Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP government had pushed the State into “darkness”. He hit out at the government for its “inability” to augment power generation and “misleading” the people with promises to provide “niranthara jyoti” (uninterrupted power supply) and quality power for farmers for six hours.
Even the free supply of power promised for irrigation pump sets upto 10 HP has not been honoured, he alleged.
The BJP government had assured that it would add at least 5,000 mw when it came to power, he said. “You have been in office since two years. At least 2,000 mw of energy should have been added by now. Where is it?” he asked.
There is a huge gap between demand and supply with demand touching about 135 to 140 million units daily against the supply of 118 million units, he said. The government has also stopped purchasing power from available sources due to finance crunch and students are facing severe hardship, he said.
Earlier, Mr. Siddaramaiah sought to move an adjournment motion on the issue, but Speaker K.G. Bopaiah disallowed it. He, however, permitted debate under another rule.
