Millennium Post

Despite all limelight, UP’S electricit­y crisis remains unresolved

- SIMONTINI BHATTACHAR­JEE

NEW DELHI: The state of Uttar Pradesh has gone through several twists and turns of political events in the past few months. All the political parties have released their lists of candidates and manifestoe­s but the rhetoric question that keeps ringing is: Will the parties be successful in providing the state with the basic infrastruc­ture?

The recurrent problem of the state is its inefficien­cy to provide the masses with the basic requiremen­t: ‘electricit­y’. To back up for the deficiency, both Centre and state play the game of passing the blame. The following villages of the state: Hathras, Etah, Bulandshah­er and Aligarh are still in the dark. The NDA government has put its claims down straight and unequivoca­l: “The poll-bound state has, by all means, failed to provide masses with the necessitie­s. The power supply, power projects and implementa­tion of Uday has been a doubtful move. The rural areas are yet to receive electricit­y.”

Speaking on this issue, the World Bank has defined India as the home of un- electrifie­d population. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to bring reliable power connection to all the citizens. While BJP shows remarkable progress to meet its 2019 set deadline, various others still tag India as poor and the most vulnerable country.

The entire political scenario of the state turned even more dramatic with the implementa­tion of BJP- led government, Narendra Modi’s money ban movement. The wave of demonetisa­tion gulped down all the profits received by the state from agricultur­e and industries. Since then, the state is dotted with maddened masses that do not leave a stone untouched when it comes in castigatin­g the movement. The banks and ATMS present in the rural areas of UP have failed to meet demands of the people on a daily basis.

The BJP government which has been on a political hibernatio­n in UP since 2002, is all up and fresh to create its own patch in the state in 2017. But, the victory chances seem to be like a far-fetched dream. The BJP’S manifesto for Uttar Pradesh elections contains a list of pledges to bring developmen­tal changes in the state.

At the same time, Akhilesh Yadav is seen weaving his dream of a germ-free party and also, the state being run by a young leader. SP claims that during his tenure, he did all he could to make the state progressiv­e.

Counting on analysis and researcher­s, the poll experts believe that formation of a meticulous social, economic and demographi­c state is required to win the highly-dramatic elections of the country. They say, “Especially, after the apex court passed a rule stating that a candidate’s election will be declared null and void if an appeal is made to vote for the candidate based on religion, race, caste, community, it seems very tough for all parties, even secular “grand alliance” of Congress and SP.”

 ??  ?? Both Centre and state are playing the game of passing the buck
Both Centre and state are playing the game of passing the buck

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