BJP protests Union Minister comment on MP's power situation

Bhopal, Nov 20 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Secretary Prabhat Jha today took strong exception of Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's statement that the Madhya Pradesh government was providing only 2 to 3 hours electricity in rural areas.

''Mr Shinde's statement is totally baseless and misleading. The minister himself had admitted in a letter earlier that the power situation in MP is satisfactory.'' Mr Jha told reporters here.

Mr Jha claimed that the rural areas in the states were getting at least eight to ten hours electricity every day.

Replying to the Congress' allegations, Mr Jha said ''There are four ministers at the Centre from the state and they must be accountable to the people for what they did for the state.

He said these ministers should explain the reason behind slashing in coal quota alloted for the state and halting of Birshingpur thermal power plant and why 41 lakh people were getting food grains from the Centre despite presence of about 62.50 lakh people living under Below Poverty Line.

Mr Jha also objected the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's comment in which he held the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) responsible for Malegaon blasts. He said both the BJP and the RSS were involved in nation-building work and they had no link with terrorism. ''Mr Gandhi should have looked into his political experience before airing such comments.'', Mr Jha said.

Posing a challenge to the Centre to ban the RSS, Mr Jha said the country was facing danger from not any Hindu outfits but from Students Islamic Movement of India and Inter-services Intelligence.

UNI AKS-BDG 2017