Row kicks in over PM's light a candle campaign

BJP mocks Opposition’s criticism of PM’s 9-minute light a candle campaign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for switching of lights and lighting up a ‘diya’ or candle on Sunday has triggered a row with the Opposition saying this would cause the electrical grid to crash and slamming the plan as a decision taken without proper thinking.

Dismissing such criticism, the ruling BJP has decided to go big on the move with the BJP President J P Nadda appealing to all party workers to reach Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s candle lighting message to all workers.

Those who backed the Prime Minister’s measure also wondered why such a hullabaloo is not made when Earth Day is celebrated.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted “an unprecedented drop in electricity demand at 9pm Sunday &an immediate surge at 9.09 pm could cause the electrical grid to crash. So Electricity Boards are contemplating load shedding from 8 pm & staggered return to normal after 9.09pm. One more thing the PM didn’t think about!”

As a number of Opposition leaders like former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh and CPI-M Secretary General Sitaram Yechury went hammer and tongs against Modi’s move, BJP national general secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh said, “their worries are eternally increasing ... Now they are more worried about the power grid on 5 April 2020 ... As usual for three days many of them have turned into super electrical engineering professionals.”

He further said, “After 9 09 pm tomorrow many among them will turn into PPE , Ventilator, mask, vaccine specialists . By Apr 12 every one among them will become #ExitPlan experts . The usual suspects .!!! #IndiaFightsCorona.”

Former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who had resigned citing “lack of freedom of expression” in August called it an “ill-thought call” stressed that that any one “bureaucrat with spine and basic understanding of the power sector in the PMO could have briefed and avoided all this panic. “Let us be clear. Job of a bureaucrat as permanent executive is also to advise politicians in power. Not just scramble to blindly execute political will,” he said.

Acclaimed author Chetan Bhagat, however, had a different take. “Am no electrical expert but claims the grid may collapse if people switch off lights, really? The fridge is on. So are fans, lifts. Street lights too. Think of this, lights are off in daytime and the grid doesn’t collapse right? Light jalao na jalao, dimaag ki batti zaroor jala lena!,” he tweeted.