The power crisis gripping Karnataka is a legacy of BJP’s alleged misrule in the State, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday.
Fielding reporters’ queries outside his residence, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the BJP government failed to add even a single MW of power to the existing capacity in the State during its tenure. “If Karnataka is facing a shortage of power in the wake of drought, it is the BJP that is responsible,” he said.
In contrast, the earlier Congress government had added a total of 16,000 MW of power, he claimed.
All that the BJP government did was to obtain loans while approving works and inviting tenders even in the absence of funds in the government. “They have left behind unpaid bills worth ₹30,000 crore,” he said, while claiming that the BJP has no moral right to speak about the Congress.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said he will table a White Paper in the legislature on the finances of the State government during the earlier Congress rule and the BJP regime.
To overcome the power shortage, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the government had taken steps to purchase power from outside Karnataka, besides purchasing power generated by the co-generation units of sugar mills. Also, the private producers of power in the State have been asked to supply electricity to Karnataka.
He also scoffed at former Chief Minister H.D Kumaraswamy for claiming that the power scarcity was artificially created and said Mr. Kumaraswamy had served as Chief Minister of the State twice and he should have known that the power shortage was real.
Referring to Mr. Kumaraswamy’s charge that Mr. Siddaramaiah was responsible for the collapse of his short-lived government in 2019, the Chief Minister sought to draw his attention to the statement made by Mr. Kumaraswamy while seeking a vote of confidence before the fall of his government. “Mr. Kumaraswamy had told the Legislative Assembly that the BJP was bringing down his government,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said. If Mr Kumaraswamy is singing a different tune now, it would amount to misleading the House.
