Piyush Goyal blames former Congress govt for power crisis in Delhi

Zee Media Bureau/Biplob Ghosal

New Delhi: As Delhi continues to face long power cuts, Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) Piyush Goyal on Tuesday held detailed consultations with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to find possible solution to the ongoing power crisis. Addressing a press conference, Goyal expressed concerns over the problems in the power sector and slammed the previous Congress regime that ruled Delhi for 15 years for not doing enough. Coming down heavily on the former Sheila Dikshit regime, the BJP leader said its inability to take concrete decisions is the crux of the ongoing problem. Goyal blamed policy and execution paralysis of the previous government for the problems being faced by the Delhi power sector. Further taking on the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP leader said that it is unfortunate that some political parties are politicising the power supply issue. “We had a government for the last 15 years, which was insensitive to the growing electricity demands of the people of Delhi,” Goyal said, adding that the policies were not according to the rising population of the national capital. He assured of more power for Delhi residents from tonight itself. The Power Minister, who held discussions with Lt Governor, power grid officials and distribution companies said that the discoms have given assurance there is no shortage of power, the problem lies within the distribution process. He also said the storm that hit Delhi few days ago also contributed to the power woes in the national capital. The Power Minister assured the Delhiites of a long-term solution, saying that the next summer will not have such problems. Goel said it`s wrong to blame his government for the power shortage as it has been only few days since his party came into power at the Centre. He requested the media and Delhiites to ask the Congress about the work it did to improve the power sector in its long tenure of 15 years. “Everyday at 5 pm, officials will brief on the steps we are taking to improve the power supply,” Goyal said. Earlier in the day, Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over acute power crisis in the national capital. Goyal`s meet with Jung comes a day after Goyal with his team paid a visit to the Gujarat Electricity Board and learn about the power issues. Large parts of the national capital plunged into darkness Monday evening with outages lasting for several hours. Moreover, the blistering heat made life miserable for the residents. Several localities faced power cuts lasting six to eight hours while Monday`s maximum temperature at 45.5 degrees Celsius made it the hottest June 9 in five years. With no electricity, it was a common sight to see people sitting outside and fanning themselves while cursing the power distribution companies.