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Lanterns throw light on M.P. power crisis

BHOPAL: The Congress legislators led by Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi on Wednesday brought small lanterns into the Madhya Pradesh Assembly to express their anger over “poor supply of electricity”.

Many of the Congress members went to the well of the House during Zero hour and started protesting in front of the Speaker’s podium.

Later the Congress MLAs staged a walkout. When they returned to their seats, State Ministers Babulal Gaur and Gauri Shankar Shejwar raised a point of order objecting to Ms. Jamuna Devi’s method of protest. The Speaker, Ishwardas Rohani, was assertive in disallowing the point of order saying that there was no reason to raise it when the House was in order.

When they persisted, the Speaker told the Ministers to cooperate and help in smooth conduct of business.

Talking to this correspondent later in the Assembly lobby, the Congress MLA, Sajjan Singh Verma, said the people, particularly students and farmers, were suffering due to poor supply of electricity. He said the Government’s “lies regarding progress made on the power generation and transmission front” get nailed by the latest news of a boy from Gwalior who reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday after his mother had received a notice for criminal action for non-payment of electricity dues.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan told newspersons that the Congress members were twisting facts to malign the Government.

Mr. Chauhan took a harsh stand on the burning of an electricity sub-engineer’s office at Berasia near Bhopal on Tuesday night. “This was the handiwork of those belonging to the Congress party,” he said.

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