Power Crisis In UP Turns Into Political Embarrassment For Yogi Adityanath Government As BJP MLAs Publicly Complain
· Free Press Journal
Lucknow: The worsening power situation in Uttar Pradesh has turned into a political embarrassment for the Yogi Adityanath government, with even BJP legislators publicly flagging widespread outages and writing to Energy Minister A K Sharma over mounting public anger amid the intense summer heat.
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Lucknow Legislators Unhappy
As complaints of prolonged electricity cuts, low voltage and transformer failures pour in from several districts, BJP MLAs from Lucknow have openly expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of the power department, underlining the growing pressure on the government over basic civic services.
Lucknow North BJP MLA Neeraj Bora wrote to the energy minister stating that people were facing severe hardship because of continuous power cuts. In a sharp message reflecting public frustration, Bora sought immediate improvement in supply and also demanded that the chief engineer visit his camp office to explain the ground reality to residents approaching him with complaints.
Singh Demands Permanent Fix
Sarojininagar BJP MLA Rajeshwar Singh also raised serious concerns in a letter to the minister, citing recurring issues such as feeder tripping, overloaded transformers, underground cable faults and persistent low voltage. He pointed out that the same problems surface every summer and called for a permanent policy-level solution instead of temporary firefighting.
Another BJP legislator, O P Srivastava, highlighted poor electricity supply conditions in his constituency and demanded urgent repair of damaged transformers and dilapidated lines.
Opposition Seizes Opportunity
The unusual spectacle of ruling party MLAs writing complaint letters to their own government has handed the opposition an opportunity to attack the administration over governance and infrastructure management during peak summer demand.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai alleged that people across the state were spending sleepless nights because of power cuts. He said drinking water supply had also been affected as pumps stopped functioning, while electricity-dependent small industries were suffering losses.
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Rai said he had written to both the chief minister and the energy minister demanding immediate corrective measures and warned of a statewide agitation if the situation did not improve.
Facing criticism from both opposition parties and sections within the BJP, Energy Minister A K Sharma attributed the situation to a sharp rise in electricity demand due to extreme heat. He maintained that the department was working continuously to stabilise supply, increase transformer capacity and ensure electricity distribution according to the prescribed roster.
The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited also defended its handling of the situation. UPPCL Director (Distribution) Gyanendra Dhar Dwivedi said officials had been instructed to ensure additional supply in affected areas and that damaged transformers were being replaced on priority. He claimed adequate manpower and material were available to deal with faults and disruptions.