Opposition stages walkout in UP Assembly over power supply issue

Lucknow, Jun 23: Major opposition parties today staged a walkout from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly during the question hour over the issue of power outages in the state.

The leaders of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress charged the Akhilesh Yadav government of misleading the House and the citizens on providing uninterrupted power supply to the state.

During the question hour, BSP's Dharampal Singh alleged that despite Supreme Court's orders of uninterrupted power supply to the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) there were four to five hours of power outages daily and sought a reply from the government on the same.

Minister of State for Power Yasir Shah in his reply to the supplementary question said that barring local faults, 24 hours power supply is being ensured to the TTZ.

Congress leader Pradip Mathur expressed dissatisfaction over Shah's reply saying that tourists in Agra and Mathura face immense problems because of the power outages and staged a walkout from the House.

Leader of Opposition Swami Prasad Maurya (BSP) also hit out at the government saying in rural areas and district headquarters there were power cuts continuously for two hours and even the state capital Lucknow was facing severe outages.

Maurya alleged that the government was presenting "wrong facts" and "misleading" people, and led his party members out of the House amid anti-government sloganeering.

BJP leader Satish Mahana alleged that government was giving false assurances and was not in a position to supply power and staged a walkout with his party members.

PTI