No electricity, no vote: Nitish Kumar

Patna, Aug 15 (IANS) In a piece of good news for the millions of power-starved in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday announced that he will not ask for votes in the 2015 assembly elections if his government fails to provide electricity to the villages.

"I will not ask people to vote for us in the next state assembly polls if we fail to provide electricity to each village in Bihar by 2015," Kumar said at an official function to mark Independence Day here.

Kumar said electricity has become the main focus of his Janata Dal-United -led government. "We have been working seriously on the electricity front to provide it to all in next few years," he said.

Kumar said the state government had already demanded its share in an upcoming thermal power plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation in Barh in Patna district. Besides, his government has cleared other power projects in the private sector in the state, he said.

By promising electricity to all in Bihar, Kumar has sent a message of hope to the people, majority of whom are still living in the lantern age due to shortage of power in the state.

While Bihar's daily power requirement is between 2,500 and 3,000 MW, the state produces merely 100 MW, said a BSEB official, who did not want to be named.

The central government supplies 1,100-1,200 MW power to the state. Bihar is facing a deficit of over 1,200 MW, they said.