On 19th August 2023, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav gave an interview to TV News Channel Aaj Tak. Akhilesh Yadav got fact-checked on the spot by the audience present in the program when he alleged that there is no electricity supply in Uttar Pradesh in the 10 years of the Modi government in the centre and the 7 years of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state.
Akhilesh Yadav said, “All the power plants in the state are made by the government of the Samajwadi Party. Today, tell me the name of the power plant if the 10 years of the Modi government in the centre and the 7 years of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state have built any plant. What I am saying is, there is no electricity supply in UP. Nobody knows when the supply starts and when it is interrupted.”
As soon as he said this statement, people in the audience shouted, “Now the supply of electricity in UP is better than that used to be before (during the years of the SP regime). We now get more hours of supply. The power plants you set up were not functioning. They are working only now.”
Then, to save face, Akhilesh Yadav pointed out to a person in the audience and said, “Out of those who are shouting here, this old man looks an educated one. Let him tell me the name of the power plant set up by the BJP government. In fact, there is none. You try to name one. Name at least one power plant they set up.”
All this while people kept shouting about the hours of supply as opposed to Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks that there is no electricity supply in UP. Ignoring that, Akhilesh Yadav kept repeating the power plant set-up thing again and again. In the end, he said, “If at all the BJP wants to send its supporters to such programs, it should send at least some educated persons and not any uneducated people like these.”
It is notable that many of the power plants in Uttar Pradesh were not functioning before the Yogi Adityanath government came to power. Many other power plants used to operate at lower capacities. their production also increased during the Yogi Adityanath government. The state produced its record highest electricity to date in the year 2022-23.
