New Delhi: Launching a vitriolic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that only eight days of coal stocks are left in the country.
“8 years of big talk has resulted in India having ONLY 8 DAYS of coal stocks. Modi ji, stagflation is looming. Power cuts will crush small industries, leading to more job losses. Switch off the bulldozers of hate and switch on the power plants!” he tweeted.
Gandhi also shared a picture quoting Prime Minister Modi’s announcement on June 18, 2020, to auction 41 coal mines for commercial mining.
The Prime Minister’s announcement has been made in order to make India self-reliant in energy by reducing imports.
The Congress leader compared it with the current coal crisis situation in the country.
Gandhi’s remarks came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting on the coal and power crisis in the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shah held a meeting with Power Minister R.K. Singh, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav amid reports of ongoing coal and power situation across the country.
The meeting, as per the officials, was held in the wake of several states warning of a possible power crisis due to the shortage of coal supply to power plants.
This comes as there are reports of depleting coal inventory of domestic thermal power plants in 12 states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Jharkhand and Haryana which are facing power cuts ranging from 3 to 8.7 percent.
The Union Power Minister has blamed the steep rise in the prices of imported coal on the Russia-Ukraine war.