No room for privatisation of ESCOM’s as long as we are in power: DyCM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday assured that the electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) in the state will not be privatised as long as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and he remain in power.
Karnataka has five electricity supply companies, namely, Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM), Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM), Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM), Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESCOM), and Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (HESCOM).
Shivakumar was speaking at the 60th Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) Employees’ Association and the launch of the Vajrajyoti commemorative issue held at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
“After I became the Energy Minister, the BJP government came to power at the Centre. ESCOMs in various cities across the country, including Mumbai and Delhi, were handed over to private companies. I was pressured to do the same in Bengaluru. But I told them that our employees, engineers, and board of directors are highly competent and can run the ESCOMs efficiently. As long as D.K. Shivakumar and CM Siddaramaiah are in power in the state, we will not allow the privatisation of ESCOMs,” he said.
“When I took charge of this department, the transmission loss stood at 19–20%. We have brought it down to 10%. This is a model for the country. Even today, other states report a loss of 17–18%. The Energy Department is growing stronger due to the efforts of all of you. Minister K.J. George has now taken over the department and is leading it in a transparent and excellent manner. We had taken many revolutionary decisions in the past,” he added.
“When I took charge of the Energy Department, Karnataka was generating 11,000 MW of electricity. By the time I left the department, the state was generating 23,000 MW. I also recruited 24,000 employees transparently, without accepting a single rupee in bribe. Earlier energy ministers used to take money for appointments. I am proud that I avoided that and provided jobs at your doorsteps,” he said.
“We made several decisions regarding wind power, solar power, and gas production in Bengaluru city. As a result, investors showed interest in our state. We are launching a new pumped storage power plant, which we plan to build in Savadatti and Varahi. We have also decided to generate 20–50 MW of electricity in each taluk to provide power to farmers during the daytime.
"When the Pavagada Solar Power Station was established, the price of agricultural land there was just ₹50,000 per acre. Instead of purchasing the land, we implemented the project by paying ₹18,000 per acre annually as rent to the farmers. Today, they are receiving ₹26,000–₹27,000 per acre per year. Even now, the farmers remain the landowners,” he explained.
“Your demands are being given due attention. OPS (Old Pension Scheme) is also part of our manifesto. Do not worry about it. In the past, when the issue of promotion arose, I resolved it on the very same day. Whenever the Congress government comes to power, it will work for your welfare. Remember, the salary of an IPS officer is the same as that of the KPTCL and ESCOM Chief Engineers. May your love and trust continue to be with us,” he stated.
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Mamata blames AIMIM, ISF for gherao of judicial officers; accuses Congress, BJP of instigation
Harirampur (WB) (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday blamed AIMIM and ISF for the gherao of judicial officers in Malda district and accused the Congress and the BJP of instigation.
Stating that the mastermind behind Wednesday's gherao of the judicial officers for several hours in Malda district's Mothabari was arrested by the state's CID, Banerjee claimed that this police organisation is still under her control and not of the Election Commission.
"The BJP loaned him (the accused) from the AIMIM and brought him here," she alleged, while addressing an election rally at Harirampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district.
"ISF is with them; Congress and BJP have also provided instigation," the Trinamool Congress chief alleged, stating that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the main accused, advocate Mofakkarul Islam, from Bagdogra airport when he was trying to flee.
"It is they who engineered the violence in Malda's Mothabari," she said.
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Alleging that goons are being brought in from outside to create unrest in poll-bound West Bengal, Banerjee said, "They don't even spare the judges."
Banerjee accused the AIMIM, whose chief Asaduddin Owaisi has come out in support of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP), floated recently by former TMC MLA Humayun Kabir, of having divided votes in the Bihar assembly elections to help the BJP win the polls.
Kabir has vowed to take on the TMC and also the BJP in all assembly seats in Muslim-majority Murshidabad district.
Pointing out that voters' names were deleted during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and expressing agreement with their anguish, Banerjee said she has fought for their rights and for their names to be included in the electoral rolls.
She questioned why the assembly polls cannot be conducted with the same electoral rolls used in the 2024 general elections.
"If the voter list contained names of infiltrators, Modi also won with their votes earlier, so he should resign first," she said.
"Money is being brought in using CRPF vehicles," she alleged, claiming that she knows where these were going.
"I have a record of these movements and will expose them at the appropriate time," she said.
Banerjee said that the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in West Bengal during the polls will lead to a reduction in the BJP's vote share.
Shah has said he would camp in West Bengal for 15 days during the two-phase assembly elections in the state on April 23 and 29.
"You may stay in West Bengal for 365 days, but that will not change anything," Banerjee said.
Accusing the BJP of having created a ruckus near her Kalighat residence on Thursday during the nomination rally of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, led by Shah, she said, "It is futile to expect any courtesy from them."
Claiming that the names of 40,000 voters of Bhabanipur constituency, from where she is contesting to get reelected, have been deleted in the SIR exercise, she asserted, despite that the TMC will win this election.
"I am your candidate in all the 294 constituencies in the state... Forget whose name is there as our party nominee," the TMC chief said.
She also accused the BJP of trying to impose a new version of religion on people.
"The BJP is trying to spread venom amongst people," she said, maintaining that she celebrates festivals of all religions.
Banerjee said her MPs have told her that the BJP is planning to bring in the Delimitation Bill in Parliament.
Asserting that the BJP will lose in the 2026 assembly polls, Banerjee said that the saffron party will be driven out of Delhi after defeat in West Bengal.
"They want to divide Bengal again," she said, claiming that a map had surfaced on social media showing a proposal to carve out a new state comprising some districts of Bihar and north Bengal.
The TMC supremo claimed to have done a lot for the development of the Santals.
"I have written poems in the Rajbangshi language and in Ol Chiki script; many decry me, let them do so, but people know that over 145 books written by me have already been published," she said.
The chief minister said that the Election Commission has appointed new DGP, police commissioners, district magistrates and other officers.
"I know they are all from West Bengal and will support the state," she said, maintaining that they should not listen to the BJP and instead work for the people.
"They don't need to support me; they should ensure that there is no violence, no money laundering, and firearms and drugs are not brought in," Banerjee said.
"For the time being, power has been taken away from us, but we will come back soon and take stock of everything," the TMC chief asserted.
