Power breakdown due to lack of management, proper policy: BJP

"By this power breakdown the UPA government has thrown 60 crore people of the country and 19 states into darkness. This drama has been going on for the past two days, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

"Moreover, there seems to be nobody who would own responsibility so that we could know what went wrong and who is accountable," Javadekar said.

"Virtually half of the country's population has been affected by the Power Grid failure...The government should be held accountable for this. The people are watching this utter failure of the UPA government. We hope the government pushes the crisis button now," Javadekar said.

The main opposition party also alleged that a slew of mistakes over a period of time was the cause behind this Power Grid failure and the subsequent chaos.

"This is a twin failure - of management as well as of policy - on the part of the UPA government. There is a policy paralysis in the power sector just as there is in other sectors of government," Javadekar asserted.

Enumerating some of the "reasons", the BJP MP said that while thermal power plants were not provided coal, those with permits for coal did not have sanction to run their plants.

"The government has also put on hold the policies which were approved. There is no provision for islanding (providing a separate grid to an area in case of a breakdown) as is done in Mumbai...The Electricity Act has not been implemented properly," Javadekar claimed.