UP assembly - Opposition stages a walkout

Lucknow, Feb 24: Opposition members today staged a walkout in Uttar Pradesh assembly holding state government responsible for the "insufficient" power supply in the state.

The matter was raised by the members of BJP, Congress and RLD during the question hour and replying to it state Power Minister Shailendra Yadav Lalai said that the government was committed to providing 24-hour power supply in big cities, 22 hours in district headquarters and 20 and 16 hours respectively at tehsil and village level by October 2016.

Accusing the state government of "insufficient" power supply, BJP member Radhamohan Das Agarwal claimed that the power generation was 4209 MW in 2012 which is now 3556 MW in UP.

"The government is purchasing costly power from private parties at Rs 6-7 per unit instead of Rs 2 per unit through power exchange," Agwarwal said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan accused the central government of not cooperating with the state and said that BJP's Loksabha poll promise of providing 24-hour power supply in 100 days has fallen flat.

"We are still waiting for the 100 days when we will get 24-hour power supply as promised by BJP. As far as the power scenario of state is concerned, it cannot be improved without help of the Centre," Khan said. Not satisfied with the government response, BJP and Congress members protested and staged a walkout.

PTI