Power Minister A K Sharma blamed the 72-hour strike that began at 10 pm on Thursday on some 'irresponsible' leaders of the electricity department and said it was not in the interest of the employees.
About 18 lakh employees and officers of the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday went on a flash strike boycotting work in protest against attempts at "forcible passage" of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes quota bill in Rajya Sabha, saying the stir will continue.
Power crisis has deepened in Uttar Pradesh with closure of one more unit of Anpara thermal power project due to a technical snag, prompting Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan to ask officials to find a solution to meet electricity shortage in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stirred up a hornet's nest when he said that 'if there is electricity during Ramzan, there should be electricity during Diwali too'. Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to Shailendra Dubey, chairman, All India Power Engineer's Federation, to ascertain the truth.