POLITICS OF VENDETTA
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Mulayam blacks out Sonia borough
Published on Fri, Jun 16, 2006 at 08:12, Updated on Fri, Jun 16, 2006 at 15:28 in 
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Rae Bareli (UP): The dirty and ugly political crossfire between UP’s ruling Samajwadi Party and the Congress has put Rae Bareli, Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s constituency, in darkness.
Having been washed out in the recent Rae Bareli Lok Sabha by-polls that saw Sonia win by a record margin, Samajwadi Party was left red-faced.
Adding insult to the injury were the recent income tax notices to party leader Amar Singh and his friend Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bacchan.
Now, SP has decided to play its vengeance card and residents of Rae Bareli are paying the price for Sonia’s record victory.
Before the bye-elections, UP Chief Minister and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had ordered 24-hour power supply for the district.
After his nominee was trounced by Sonia and even lost his deposit, Mulayam asked the UP Power Corporation to de-list Rae Bareli from the VIP category.
The district has now been gifted with long hours of darkness.
"Before Sonia ji was elected there was 24-hour electricity supply. But after she won, power supply has become irregular,” Rae Bareli resident Virendra Singh says.
Sonia Gandhi's election campaign focused on developmental issues including improved power supply.
But the current power tussle has put the party on a sticky wicket. “Mulayam Singh had promised 24-hour power supply. Even Samajwadi Party supporters live here, not only Congress people," Sonia’s representative KL Sharma says.
The SP obviously doesn't agree and is quick to shift the blame on the Congress-ruled Centre.
"The National Themal Power Corporation is not giving sufficient power here. Whatever is happening in Rae Bareli is right," SP General Secretary Beni Prasad Varma says.
The Congress, too, finds it easy to fall back upon counter allegations. Union Government's argues that UP gets more power than other states.
"We are now cutting the share of other states and diverting power to UP,” Union Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde says.
While shortage of electricity can be cited as a valid reason for unscheduled power cuts, it certainly cannot be used for settling political scores, especially when the voter is made the scapegoat.
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