AAP supremo and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Delhi government on Thursday, accusing the ruling party of bringing the city back to the era of blackouts.
As temperatures soar high over the next few weeks, the situation might get worse, he added.
The BJP had not immediately respond to Kejriwal's accusations.
“On April 9, the peak demand in Delhi was 5,462 MW. Due to this, there was no electricity for several hours in many places in Delhi last night. Last year, the peak demand reached about 8,500 MW. Still, there was no power outage anywhere in Delhi during our government,” Kejriwal shared this in his social media post.
“What will happen in the coming weeks when the heat in Delhi increases and the demand for electricity also increases?” he asked. He termed the current power crisis as a result of the BJP’s “misgovernance”.
“In the last 10 years, we have worked hard to fix Delhi's electricity system. It is said it takes years to fix anything but it can be damaged in just two days,” he further claimed.
Meanwhile, other AAP leaders also accused the BJP of mismanagement and claimed that Delhi’s power infrastructure which was carefully built over a decade, was being undone in a matter of days.
The AAP said Wednesday night saw widespread outages across the city despite relatively moderate demand.
“This never happened under the AAP government even when demand soared past 8,500 MW last year. The BJP has plunged Delhi back into the dark days of power cuts,” the party said in a statement.
Delhi's peak power demand has raised to 5,462 MW on Wednesday which is the highest recorded this year so far, according to the data from the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC).
The city's peak power demand could reach 9,000 MW this season.
Atishi, Opposition Leader, said she had received hundreds of complaints throughout the night from various parts of the city.
“People across Delhi spent the night without electricity. The BJP’s Delhi Government is sleeping while Delhi is suffering,” she stated this on her social media post.
Earlier, Delhi Power Minister Ashish Sood had said the outages were in the past part of “routine maintenance” to make sure the city was prepared for the upcoming summer.
“We are a 40-day-old government, yet they claim we have disrupted a system that was perfect for the last 10 years. There is no electricity crisis,” he said. He further said the power cuts were routine and happened every year during this time.
The AAP dismissed the Delhi government’s explanation of “maintenance work” as a cover-up.
“Delhiites are exposing this lie themselves by posting videos and complaints from across the city,” said Atishi.
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