The Congress party came to power in Karnataka in May this year. In six months, as per media reports and Opposition leaders, the State has been plunged into a power deficit scenario. "Farmers, industrialists in distress as Karnataka battles severe power crisis," said an NDTV report today.
As per some media reports, power usage has doubled in the State since last year. In September 2022, the demand was 8,000 MW to 8,500 MW. This year, it is 15,000 MW to 16,000 MW. As per the NDTV report, only four hours of electricity supply has been available to farmers in places like Kolar and Raichur. There is considerable anger among farmers in these regions.
Recently, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao said that the Congress will reverse the good power situation prevalent in the State if it comes to power this December. "The party will guarantee to stop 24 hours power supply if they come to power. In Karnataka, the Congress government is unable to provide even five hours of power supply to farmers," the BRS supremo said.
In the latest development, JD(S) leader and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy alleged that the Siddaramaiah government is creating artificial scarcity of electricity with the intention of buying power from private parties and making a cut. As per him, the installed power generation capacity in Karnataka is adequate to ensure uninterrupted supply to both farmers and industry. The installed capacity has not been used optimally, HDK alleged.
