Jaipur, Jun 8 (PTI) Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the BJP government in the state over power cuts on Sunday and said the power-distribution system has collapsed, a claim rejected by Energy Minister Heeralal Nagar.

Taking to X, Gehlot said in a post in Hindi: “The weather of the villages is rosy only in your files, but the figures are false and the claim is bookish.” He said on the completion of one year of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, it was publicised loudly that Rajasthan has now become a “surplus state” in electricity, but as soon as the mercury soared, power cuts started being reported from everywhere, including villages and cities.

“Power cuts in a ‘surplus state’ simply means mismanagement by the government. The power-distribution system in Rajasthan has collapsed due to which the common man is troubled,” the veteran Congress leader said.

Responding to his remarks, Nagar said Gehlot’s statement is baseless and misleading.

He accused Gehlot of trying to confuse people by raising false alarms in the absence of any real issues.

“The previous Congress government’s shortsighted decisions led to hardships for the public during last summer. Due to poor management and flawed power-banking deals under the Gehlot government, we had to buy and return around 1,000 megawatts of electricity daily,” the energy minister told reporters here.

He said the BJP government inherited a mismanaged power system, but the electricity supply has remained stable across the state this summer.

“Power outages occurred only in specific areas and were pre-announced for maintenance purposes,” he said.

Nagar also said that for the first time, there was no load-shedding in Rajasthan.

He said the state has added more than 1,000 MW of solar energy to the grid in the last 18 months and over 10,000 MW of additional solar projects are in the pipeline.

He said a 4,000-MW battery-storage system is expected from the Centre soon, which he described as a potential game changer for the state’s power infrastructure.

Nagar said while the previous Congress government constructed 42 grid sub-stations, the present government has completed 80 grid sub-stations in just a year and a half, with a target of 130 by the year-end.

“The demand for electricity is rising as the state and the country progress. Our government is planning accordingly to meet future requirements,” he said. PTI AG SDA RC