GUWAHATI: The opening day of the Budget Session of the 16th Assam Legislative Assembly on Monday witnessed high political drama as Congress legislators staged a walkout after Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass rejected an adjournment motion seeking an urgent discussion on the state's worsening power crisis.
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The motion was moved by Leader of the Opposition and Congress MLA Wazed Ali Choudhury, who urged the House to suspend its scheduled business and take up what he described as a "public emergency" arising from erratic electricity supply, prolonged power cuts and poor maintenance of transformers across Assam.
After the Speaker declined to admit the motion, Congress members walked out of the House in protest.
Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, Congress MLA Nurul Huda accused the BJP-led state government of failing to ensure uninterrupted electricity despite repeated assurances.
"The entire state is reeling under intense heat while people continue to suffer from prolonged load-shedding. The government has failed to provide adequate electricity. Even today, we were denied the opportunity to move an adjournment motion and discuss this pressing issue in the Assembly," Huda said.
He also criticised the government's smart meter policy, alleging that consumers were being burdened without receiving reliable power supply.
"Through smart meters, the government is extracting money from the public. This must stop, along with the continuing load-shedding. We demand the government's immediate intervention to ensure adequate and uninterrupted power supply," he added.
Congress MLA Joy Prakash Das said the Opposition had sought the adjournment motion to highlight what it termed the government's failure to fulfil its promise of providing round-the-clock electricity.
"The BJP government had promised 24×7 power supply. Today, people are struggling to get even 27 minutes of uninterrupted electricity. In many villages, people joke that power comes only in short intervals. We wanted a discussion on this issue in the Assembly, but the Speaker did not admit our motion," Das alleged.
Earlier, while moving the motion, Choudhury said the deteriorating power situation had assumed the proportions of a public emergency and warranted immediate discussion in the House. He said prolonged outages, erratic supply and poor maintenance of transformers had severely inconvenienced consumers despite the government's regular collection of electricity bills through smart meters.
"The government collects regular payments through smart meters, but what have the people received in return?" Choudhury asked.
Claiming that Assam's power infrastructure was struggling to meet rising demand, he said electricity consumption had increased from around 2,880 MW to nearly 3,000 MW, while the state's own hydroelectric and thermal power generation remained limited to about 450-500 MW.
"The state spends nearly Rs 19 crore every day to purchase electricity. Even after incurring such huge expenditure, why are the people of Assam still not receiving adequate power supply?" he questioned.
Choudhury also said the erratic power supply was disrupting students' studies, particularly during examinations, as there was no fixed schedule for outages or restoration of electricity.
Following the Speaker's decision to reject the adjournment motion, Congress legislators accused the government of evading a debate on the state's worsening power situation, making the issue the first flashpoint of the Budget Session.