Power outage in walled city stalls voting process, Congress, AAP  blames BJP for influencing Torrent Power officials

Surat (Gujarat): Voters and the candidates from the political parties, especially the Congress candidates in the Surat (East) and Surat (North) constituencies were furious as the voting in the polling booths in the walled city areas was stalled due to the power outage on Thursday morning. The opposition candidates claimed it was the plot of the ruling BJP to disrupt the power supply as there was heavy voting registered in the minority-dominated areas.

The areas in Surat North and Surat East assembly constituencies were affected due to the sudden electricity failure on Thursday morning.

Congress leaders said the electricity supply was disrupted for almost 45 minutes in the walled city areas under the jurisdiction of the Torrent Power company. However, senior officials in Torrent Power stated the power outage was only for 15 to 20 minutes due to some technical issues.

Asad Kalyani, a senior Congress leader sat on the dharna at the polling booth in Viramgami Mohallal in Begumpura to protest the power failure and the BJP’s ploy to disrupt the free-and-fair election for almost an hour. “Many voters in the Viramgami Mohalla, which is minority dominated, had to return as there was a power failure for almost one hour. It was a ploy of the BJP to disrupt power in the walled city areas to prevent the minority voters from casting their franchise. The Torrent Power officials are somewhere involved in the entire episode”

Yogesh Jadhwani, spokesperson of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Surat said, “On regular days, we have not heard of any power outage by Torrent Power in the city areas. It is mysterious as to how there was power outage when PM Modi talks about digital India”

Aslam Cylewala, Congress candidate from Surat (East) assembly constituency said, “IT was a plot of the BJP to pressurize the Torrent Power officials to disrupt the power lines in the walled city areas after the Muslim voters thronged the polling booths on Thursday morning. The BJP has sensed their defeat in Surat North and Surat East seat and they are playing dirty politics to stall the election process”

Cyclewala added, “A complaint has been lodged with the Election Commission regarding the power outage that resulted in the abrupt stalling of the voting process in the walled city areas. We have demanded that the EC must compensate for the lost minutes due to power failure by extending the voting process in the evening”

Snehal Desai, general manager, of Torrent Power Surat told TBT, “There was a power outage for 15 to 20 minutes. We have ordered an investigation as to why there was an outage. We will know the exact reason behind the power failure once the investigation is complete”

It must be noted that there are rare occasions when there is a power outage in the walled city areas by Torrent Power. However, the power failure during the ongoing voting in the first phase of Gujarat Election has raised many eyebrows.