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Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram (File)Taking a swipe at the Centre over the issue of widespread power outages, Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said the government has found the “perfect solution” to it which is to cancel passenger trains and run coal rakes.
Various states are struggling with power shortages amid the ongoing heatwave. The Aam Aadmi Party and Congress leaders held the Centre responsible for the current power crisis and alleged that logistical support was not being provided for coal distribution to power plants.
Attacking the government over the issue, Chidambaram said, “Abundant coal, large rail network, unutilised capacity in thermal plants. Yet, there is acute power shortage. Modi Government cannot be blamed. It is because of 60 years of Congress rule!”
“There is no incompetence in the Ministries of Coal, Railway or Power. The blame lies with past Congress ministers of the said departments!” he added.
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“Government has found the perfect solution: cancel passenger trains and run coal rakes! Modi hai, mumkin hai,” the former Union minister said in a series of tweets.
Government has found the perfect solution: cancel passenger trains and run coal rakes!
Modi hai, mumkin hai.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 30, 2022
India’s peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day touched the all-time high of 207.11 GW on Friday. With states raising alarm over coal shortage, the railways cancelled 42 passenger trains to facilitate coal freight movement, with South East Central Railway (SECR) division that covers the coal-producing regions cancelling 34 trains.
Chidambaram on ‘false FIR’ against Jignesh Mevani
Meanwhile, talking about the FIR lodged against Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani in Assam, Chidambaram took a dig at Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, asking whether the CM would entrust the CBI to find out who was the “insane person” who caused the FIR to be registered.
Will the CM of Assam entrust the case to the CBI to find out who was the insane person who caused the FIR to be registered against Mr Mevani?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 30, 2022
Granting bail to Mevani in a case related to the alleged “assault” of a woman police officer, a court in Assam’s Barpeta district on Friday pulled up the state police for lodging the “false FIR”. Hearing the bail petition, Barpeta District and Sessions Judge Aparesh Chakraborty also urged the Gauhati High Court to direct the state police force to “reform itself”, referring to the slew of police encounters over the last one year.
Reacting to the development, Chidambaram tweeted, “The Court found that no sane person could have intended to outrage the modesty of a lady police officer in the presence of two male police officers and held that the FIR had no merit.”
“If Mr Mevani was not insane and yet a false FIR was registered against him, there must be someone who was insane?” he added.
Mevani was granted bail on a Personal Recognisance (PR) bond of Rs 1,000 in the case filed at the Barpeta Road police station.
“Will the CM of Assam entrust the case to the CBI to find out who was the insane person who caused the FIR to be registered against Mr Mevani?” Chidambaram said.
(With PTI inputs)
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