NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh energy minister Arvind Kumar Sharma came under fire on social media after he avoided addressing public complaints about power outages, and instead chanted “Jai Shri Ram, Jai Bajrang Bali” before driving away.Surrounded by the locals in Sultanpur, the minister was seen listening to their electricity woes, but did not give them any verbal assurance.“We are getting electricity for only three hours,” one of the locals is heard saying in the clip.However, later the minister posted on X, saying: “The actual status of power supply in the district has been shared by the Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, and I have also posted it”.“Yesterday, during my visit near Bijethua Hanuman Dham in Surapur, Sultanpur district, a few locals stopped to greet and honour me. They also shared concerns about electricity issues, which were patiently and attentively heard, with assurances of appropriate action,” the minister claimed in the post.He further said: “Due to scanty rainfall in districts like Sultanpur, agricultural and domestic demand has surged. Still, efforts are ongoing to meet the demand, and local issues are being addressed on a war footing by the electricity department.”Contrary to the claims made by the local people in Sultanpur, the minister said: “For the past three years, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed the highest electricity supply in its history. Compared to the Akhilesh Yadav-led government (2012–2017), the state is delivering 2.5 times more peak power. Compared to the Congress era, the increase is even greater.”The minister urged “critics to watch all the videos from that event” and asked to take “a hard look at the electricity records from their own tenure”.
