Chennai, June 14 (IANS). Former Tamil Nadu power minister and DMK leader Senthil Balaji on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the TVK-led state government over the frequent power cuts across the state. He accused the government of administrative failure and said that the government should take necessary steps immediately instead of indulging in distraction tactics.
Balaji said that the government which had promised major changes after coming to power, has put people in trouble within a month of assuming power.
He alleged that people in many parts of the state are facing power cuts of 6 to 12 hours, forcing them to protest and block roads even at midnight.
He said that the government which promised change has only disappointed. Power cuts have become so severe that people, including children, elderly and sick people, are being forced to take to the streets at night.
Balaji criticized Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay for remaining silent on the issue and accused Power Minister V. Senthilkumar of trying to divert attention from the crisis by talking about a conspiracy.
Referring to the minister’s recent statements, he questioned the claims that theft of fuse carrier and missing hard disk were responsible for the power cut.
He alleged that how could thefts that happened during the day be attributed to power cuts at night. Is the entire power distribution network dependent on a single fuse carrier? Instead of solving the real issue, the minister is creating fabricated stories and trying to mislead the public.
The DMK leader also objected to the suggestion that power sector employees were involved in the sabotage. He said that the employees have always served the public with full devotion.
He accused the government of blaming others to hide its incompetence in handling the power sector.
Referring to the record of the previous DMK government, Balaji said Tamil Nadu had successfully met the rising power demand without massive power cuts.
He said that the maximum demand for electricity in the state had increased from 16,481 MW in 2021 to 20,974 MW in April 2026. Despite this, electricity supply continued without interruption during the DMK rule.
He further claimed that Tamil Nadu has been rated as one of the best performing states of India in terms of power reliability and around two lakh farmers had received free power connections during the previous government.
Balaji urged the government to focus on solving the crisis instead of creating content for social media.
Quoting DMK president MK Stalin, Balaji said governments can mislead people for some time but not forever. He demanded the administration to take steps on war footing to end power cuts and restore people’s confidence.
–IANS
DKM/PM
