MLAs urge power min to check power cuts amid heatwave

Lucknow: Mounting power cuts across UP have triggered political reactions, with legislators from both the BJP and opposition writing letters and social media posts to state energy minister Arvind Kumar Sharma over the worsening electricity crisis during peak summer.

BJP MLA from Gonda Sadar, Prateek Bhushan Singh, in his letter described a “serious electricity crisis” in his district and constituency. Calling the issue “extremely sensitive and urgent,” Singh said repeated outages amid intense heat had pushed residents into severe distress and disrupted normal life, workplaces and business activity.

He urged the minister to ensure an emergency mechanism for uninterrupted power supply, particularly during night hours, and sought immediate intervention for a permanent solution.

Biswa BJP MLA, Nirmal Verma also wrote to the energy minister, saying both urban and rural areas of his constituency in Sitapur district had been facing continuous scheduled power cuts for several days. He said that the outages had severely affected trade, agriculture and daily life and urged officials to restore normal supply at the earliest.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the BJP govt over the crisis. In a public appeal, he urged people not to vent anger on linemen and junior electricity employees, claiming they were already working under pressure after large-scale contractual staff layoffs. He blamed govt for failing to strengthen generation, transmission and distribution systems despite rising demand.

BSP chief Mayawati also criticised the power situation in UP amid the ongoing heatwave, saying complaints of inadequate electricity supply and frequent outages were making life “extremely distressing” for people across the state.

“Even in a state like UP with its vast population, during this season of severe heat, the common complaints regarding inadequate electricity supply and frequent outages have made life extremely distressing for the poor, middle class, farmers, small traders and millions of other hardworking people,” Mayawati said.

Mayawati appealed to govt to take immediate corrective measures keeping in mind the hardships faced by the public due to electricity-related problems.

Nagina MP Chandra Shekhar Azad too wrote to Sharma, highlighting worsening outages in rural and semi urban areas. He said students, farmers, labourers and small traders were among the worst affected.

In Lucknow, MLAs Neeraj Vora (Lucknow North) and Rajeshwar Singh (Sarojini Nagar) submitted complaints about outages affecting the state capital and adjoining districts, urging the state energy minister to enforce corrective measures.