Pawar blames SS-BJP government for power crisis in state

The Nationalist Congress supremo and the Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar on Thursday squarely blamed the BJP-Shiv Sena for the present power crisis in the state, saying the alliance government's decision in 1995 to cancel the Enron power project made potential investors shy away, thereby adversely affecting the creation of new generating capacity in Maharashtra, reports Pradip Kumar Maitra.

The Nationalist Congress supremo and the Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar on Thursday squarely blamed the BJP-Shiv Sena for the present power crisis in the state, saying the alliance government's decision in 1995 to cancel the Enron power project made potential investors shy away, thereby adversely affecting the creation of new generating capacity in Maharashtra.

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Addressing a huge election rally at Hingna, some 25 kms from Nagpur this evening, the NCP leader said the saffron alliance government's decision sent out the wrong message to potential investors who wanted to invest in the power sector in the state. "The decision created the impression that the government in Maharashtra invited an entrepreneur only to dump him later. Many companies had been willing to set up new plants in Maharashtra, but shied away after what happened to Enron. The government made the decision in spite of my repeated warnings not to do so,” he pointed out.

The decision did not create a problem at the time, but Maharashtra fell behind in creating new generating capacity, and the supply gradually became inadequate to meet the ever-increasing demand. Unfortunately, from a power surplus state before 1995, Maharashtra became a power-starved state in the next decade, Pawar alleged. "Steps are being taken to increase the generating capacity, and the situation will improve in a few months. This will also attract investment and industrialisation, which will, in turn, create employment," the union minister claimed.

He also cited several welfare measures of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), particularly steps initiated to bail out crisis-ridden farmers in Vidarbha. Decisions to give more justice to farmers were in the pipeline and would be announced over the next few weeks, Pawar said, and hinted that the interest on crop loan for those making regular repayments would be brought down to 4 per cent soon. "It was because of the people's confidence that India would progress under the rule of the UPA, and that is why they gave it their mandate in the April-May Lok Sabha elections. I am confident that the people will give a similar mandate in Maharashtra," he asserted.

The meeting was held in support of the NCP-Congress candidate from Hingna constituency in Nagpur district, Ramesh Bang. Later in the evening, Pawar addressed campaign meetings in Morshi and Badnera in adjoining Amravati district, before camping in Amravati for the night.