LUCKNOW: A new flavour of power struggle is palpable in the air of Lucknow with Uttar Pradesh’s Energy Minister AK Sharma having taken an unexpected swipe at his own government, raising serious questions over the decision to privatise Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal power companies.
A post on his X handle argued that such major decisions were not made by the minister in isolation, but with full approval of the state’s task force led by the Chief Secretary. The minister, while releasing a statement, also claimed that the decision over the privatisation of DISCOMs was done at the highest level of state government.
Even as a section of power department employees has been on the warpath for the past seven months against the proposed privatisation of DISCOMs, AK Sharma, seen as a close confidant of PM Modi and currently heading the Power and Urban Development departments in the state, has blamed “miscreants in the guise of electricity employees” for tarnishing the department’s image.
While accusing the department of selling public assets for peanuts, the protesting power employees have been demanding that CM Yogi Adityanath take control of the department himself.
While releasing a statement, the minister wondered as to why only he had faced four strikes during his three-year tenure as minister and no other department was in trouble.
The statement added that apparently, all those who were envious of the power minister had come together, but the divine and people were with the minister.
The social media post from Sharma’s handle alleged that envious forces were conspiring against the minister. "If a junior engineer’s transfer isn’t in his hands, how can privatisation be?" it asked. The post also cited divine support — “Jako rakhe Saiyan…” — in Sharma’s defence.
The minister also posed tough questions to the protestors, asking them where they were in 2010 when privatisation of Agra’s power supply to Torrent had happened during Mayawati’s regime. He claimed that union leaders were conveniently quiet back then and were enjoying abroad tours.
The minister reminded critics that UPPCL was an autonomous body and that he lacked authority even over minor transfers. The entire privatisation process is being handled by a task force, not the Energy Minister, personally claimed the minister.
On the other, the Electricity Contractual Employees Union has come out in support of the minister, accusing the protesting employees of being politically motivated.
Meanwhile, the protesting electricity employees recently gheraoed Sharma’s official residence for six hours, chanting slogans and even targeting his family with offensive language. In response, Sharma came out with folded hands, offered sweets and water, and waited over two hours to hold talks, but no dialogue took place.
The electricity workers’ joint committee, on July 27, appealed directly to CM Yogi Adityanath to take over the energy department. They claimed that the privatization move was based on distorted data and alleged asset sales at throwaway prices.
Moreover, during a programme in his own district, Mau, a power outage forced the use of mobile torches during an event being presided over by him. The minister had to search for his shoe with a flashlight. Action followed — but Sharma blamed it on an attempt of sabotage.