Mamata takes governor cue

By PARWEZ HAFEEZ

Kolkata, May 8: Taking a cue from West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday decided to observe a two-hour voluntary power cut at her Kalighat residence as well as party office Trinamul Bhavan from Friday between 4 pm to 6 pm. She did not observe the power cut on Thursday as it coincided with Akshay Triteya — an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.

Ms Bannerjee, who was addressing panchayat election rallies in Tamluk in east Mednipur, denied that she was trying to follow in the foootsteps of Mr Gandhi. "He is a constitutional head and I have a lot of respect for him, but my decision is entirely on my own," she claimed.

Mr Gandhi sparked a major controversy by plunging the Raj Bhavan into darkness in a bid to share the plight of the people who had to suffer frequent spells of load shedding in the state. The CPI(M) leadership launched a scathing attack against him and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose even said that the office of governor should be immediately eliminated from the states.

Sources said that smelling a potent issue, Ms Banerjee grabbed it with both hands with an aim at reaping electoral dividends in the coming panchayat polls which begin on May 11. She has asked her party MP, MLAs and important leaders to also voluntary observe power cut as a mark of solidarity with the people.

Responding to the governor’s decision, state power minister Mrinal Banerjee had claimed that the power situation had improved. But the state witnessed a huge power shortage on Thursday evening following a technical snag at Bakreswar. All four generating plants at Bakreswar stopped generation after the feeder lines developed a snag. West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) sources said, "The estimated shortfall is around 700 MW."