Power cuts in Rae Bareli, Amethi; Cong says 'unfortunate'

Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituencies of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, are facing power cuts for the first time after the Akhilesh government ordered round-the-clock supply to these VVIP districts, leading to speculation about further strain in SP-Congress ties.
Sources in the power corporation said that although no formal orders in this regard have been issued, these two districts have been put on load-shedding roster since yesterday.
The two constituencies witnessed power cuts for a couple of hours, which the authorities blamed on pressing conditions due to fall in output.
However, the sources said that barring these two districts, the other VVIP constituencies of Mainpuri, Kannauj, Etawah and Rampur, all strongholds of SP leaders, continue to get 24-hour supply.

Reacting to the development, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi described it as "unfortunate."
"It is unfortunate that in a few districts, power is being supplied for 24 hours while in rest of UP, there is no power. Entire state should get proper electricity. People had elected this government with great hope," he said in Delhi.

The development comes on the back of recent public spat between the SP and Congress leaders, fuelling speculation that the decision on pow cuts could be a fallout of it.
Nearly nine months back, the Akhilesh Yadav government had ordered to provide round-the-clock power supply to both these districts, which, at that time, was seen as an indication of warming ties between Congress and SP, which is supporting UPA government from outside.

Meanwhile, a senior power official blamed the load-shedding on "unavoidable conditions."
"There are no orders of power cut in these two districts. During the past two days, there had been a two hour load-shedding due to unavoidable conditions," power corporation MD A P Misra said.