MUMBAI, NOV 16: Energy Minister Padmasinh Patil has come under severe criticism from his own partymen over the functioning of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB).``The party is not happy with the functioning of the energy department,'' State NCP president Baban Pachpute said in a press conference here today.Pachpute's criticism of Patil has come as a sequel to the complaints made by district presidents of the NCP against the frequent load-shedding and recovery of the electricity bills by the MSEB in most of the rural areas of the state in a meeting at NCP office on Wednesday.``There are several officers in the MSEB who are playing mischief,''expressed Pachpute alleging that the officers wanted to defame the government.He sought a probe into the functioning of the MSEB officers. ``The load-shedding, effected by the MSEB, is badly affecting the farmers as in most of the cases irrigating the fields depend on the power supply to pumps,''he added.In fact, the irregular power supply and frequent load-shedding has affected crops in several parts of the state. MSEB has failed to meet the demand for power at peak hours.Patil was at the receiving end when he was taken to task over the MSEB's functioning by his colleagues in a recent meeting of the State Cabinet.The feelings of the partymen were also visible in a recent conclave of the party at Pune. ``The BJP lost power to Congress in New Delhi due to onions. We will lose it due to electricity if anything is not done in this regard,''Minister of State for Social Welfare Laxman Dhoble had said in his address in presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.Significantly, the criticism of Patil has come at a time when the minister is at loggerheads with Minister for Irrigation (Krishna project) Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar.The reasons of tussle between Patil and Pawar junior are the former's strong opposition to handing over the reigns of the Home Department to the latter in the absence of Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and proposal for diversion of water to Marathwada from the Krishna valley. It is Ajit Pawar, controls the orgainsation in the state and has considerable influence over the partymen. Little wonder that most of the district presidents of NCP chose to train their guns on Patil over the electricity issue.
