Prez daughter joins Cong protest against power cuts

President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha took part in a Congress protest in the city over power cuts and water supply on Saturday. 

Participating in the candle-light march at Gandhi Nagar in East Delhi, she said that during the Congress rule in Delhi, people had forgotten all about power cuts, and that her party wanted to make Delhi a “power island”. “The power situation in Delhi is as bad as it was once in Kolkata, as there is no electricity for hours together,” she said, remarking that the city is witnessing “jungle raaj”.

Sharmistha also accused the Aam Aadmi Party of betraying the people’s trust and leaving Delhi rudderless. 

Earlier in the day, Congress workers had tried to break the barricades at the Nangloi Railway station during their protest on power and water. Police had to use water cannon to disperse the agitators. 

Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and senior leader Sajjan Kumar were detained from the protest site. 

The Congress workers, led by Lovely, had blocked the movement of trains by sitting on tracks. When they didn’t heed the police appeal, they were evicted and taken to Nangloi and Gonda police stations. The leaders were released after half an hour. 

Addressing demonstrators at Nangloi and Vikas Marg, the Congress leaders said the power and water crises continued to worsen in Delhi despite the pleasant weather prevailing. The party accused the Central government of giving a free hand to power companies.