Power cuts force adjournment of U'khand Assembly

As many as 12 power cuts were witnessed within an hour on the opening day of its Winter session today.

As soon as the day's proceedings began at 11 am with the Leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt rising from his seat to speak in support of the BJP's demand for inclusion of at least two party legislators in the Assembly's Business Advisory Committee, the lights went off.

Though the power was restored after a while and proceedings were resumed, the lights went off again shortly afterwards sending the state assembly and power department employees into a tizzy. BJP members even demanded the power minister's resignation.

Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal adjourned the House till 12:20 and went out.

"The power scenario is collapsing in the state and we had a chance to see an example of this in the House today," former chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank told reporters outside the Assembly.

He said the plight of common man can easily be imagined when the state government can't ensure proper power supply even in the state Assembly.

Later, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said a new power backup system has been introduced in the Assembly premises but the issue of frequent power cuts during the session will be probed.