BJP MLA's attempt to defend Govt boomerangs

Bhopal, Feb 22 (UNI) Ruling BJP member Karan Singh Verma's attempt to defend the state government in ensuring adequate electricity supply to the farmers boomeranged in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly today when the opposition arraigned the government for discrimination in power supply.

Challenging Mr Verma's claim, during the debate on a call attention notice, that the farmers were getting 12 hours electricity daily during the BJP regime, the opposition members said the BJP member was misleading the house by shelling out false information.

The house plunged into heavy uproar with the opposition members supporting suspended BJP member Dr Gauri Shanker Shejwar's claim that the farmers were hardly getting four hour power supply per day.

At one stage, Speaker Ishwardas Rohani expunged the statement of Dr Shejwar, who later drew the Speaker's attention and wanted to know whether the Speaker was annoyed with him. Having failed to get the Speaker's nod to join the debate despite repeated plea, Dr Shejwar went out of the hall in disgust.

Dr Shejwar is considered a close confidante of Ms Uma Bharati, who had been expelled from BJP.

Mr Ramniwas Rawat and Mr Sajjan Singh Verma(Cong) and Mr Ramlakhan Sharma(CPI-M) protested the BJP member's claim and alleged that areas represented by BJP members were given preferential treatment with electricity supply for long hours.

Leader of the opposition Jamuna Devi said Budhni, represented in the Assembly by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was getting 20 hours supply.

The issue came up during discussion on a call attention notice moved by Mr Karan Singh Verma, who said burnt and defective transformers in few villages in Ichhawar tahsil of Sehore district were not being replaced.

Electricity Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, in his reply, admitted that electricity consumers in Ichhawar owed arrears of Rs 778 lakhs. The transformers in those areas were not being replaced where the defaulters were in sizeable number, he said.

In order to give relief to the farmers, he said, the state government relaxed the norms that the defective transformers would be replaced in the event of at least 50 percent arrears being paid by the consumers. Now it was decided to promptly replace the transformers and only those transformers would not be changed where cent percent consumers were in default, Mr Vijayvargiya added.

Of the total 1,79,915 transformers, 31,113 were defective and 29,109 were replaced as on February 19, he added.

UNI