Rahul Gandhi had said that the Modi government should concentrate more on running the power plants than on what he called the "bulldozer of hatred".
New Delhi: Reacting to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the looming power crisis, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has launched a scathing attack as he called the leader "a fake astrologer" and a "fool". Joshi's onslaught comes amid mounting pressure on the Centre to fulfil the rapidly rising demand of the states for power amid a coal shortage.
"Rahul Gandhi has become a fake astrologer these days. Instead of telling what is going to happen due to the shortage of coal in the country, he should tell the country how big a coal scam happened during his government and how much loss the country incurred due to this fraud," the minister said in a Facebook post.
Rahul Gandhi had said that the Modi government should concentrate more on running the power plants than on what he called the "bulldozer of hatred" ."On April 20, 2022, I told the Modi government to stop running the bulldozer of hatred and start power plants in the country. Today, the coal and electricity crisis has created havoc in the entire country," Gandhi wrote in a Facebook post.
Defending the government in a strongly worded post, Joshi said the Centre has been taking steps to boost coal productivity. He claimed India's coal production has increased from 777 tonnes to 818 tonnes in the financial year 2021-22, adding that it was just 566 metric tonnes in the financial year 2013-2014 when Congress was in power. "But Rahul Gandhi does not understand these figures because he is a fool. If he is so fond of making predictions, then he should at least once tell the future of his own party," he added.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel said it was the Centre's responsibility to provide adequate coal.
"It is the responsibility of the Government of India to make sure that a sufficient amount of coal is being supplied to the power plants and industries across the country," Baghel told media persons on Friday.
On Saturday, he told the news agency ANI, "If there's no shortage (of coal), why were the passenger train services shut? 23 goods trains from Chhattisgarh were cancelled, then when I talked to the Railway Minister, 6 trains were started".
Meanwhile, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the coal shortage problem has its root in the coal scam allegations.
"Genesis of this power crisis goes back to when BJP and CAG gave a report that coal blocks were allocated wrongly during the Congress government, and the SC cancelled them. They did the auction again and it's yet to be completed because of the increased prices," he said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the BJP-led state government saying it should solve the problem instead of listing the reasons for the same.
He posted a tweet attaching an excerpt of information given by Energy Minister A K Sharma which spoke about the closure of a few power generation units due to technical reasons.
(With inputs from ANI)
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 "Power crisis: Pralhad Joshi said coal production has increased during Narendra Modi's rule.")
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