Bangladesh leader links Jharkhand power-plant shutdown to PM skipping BRICS
What's the story
A unit of Adani Power's Godda plant in Jharkhand, which supplies electricity to Bangladesh, was shut down due to a boiler fault on September 10. The issue was fixed by September 13. This incident has now been linked by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman skipping the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
Allegations made
Rizvi alleges India is weaving a 'web of conspiracy'
Speaking at an event, Rizvi questioned the circumstances surrounding Rahman's invitation to the BRICS summit and the timing of the shutdown of the unit at Adani Power's Godda plant in Jharkhand.
"He [Tarique] decided not to go, and the next day it was shut down. What was the reason behind that? Do you need to pass the bar exam to understand it? Do you need a PhD from a university? We understand what happened," he said.
PM
'Tarique not invited in his capacity as PM'
Rizvi claimed Tarique was not invited to the summit in his capacity as PM and that the decision not to attend upheld Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty.
"Tarique Rahman is the prime minister of an independent and sovereign country. So, will you not invite him as prime minister? Will he sit on the sidelines? That cannot happen. He did not go. By not going, the prime minister of Bangladesh upheld the country's dignity, independence and sovereignty," Rizvi said.
Supply disruption
Bangladesh's energy crisis worsens due to Godda plant outage
According to JagoNews24, Rizvi claimed that since the power plant was in India, it could be "turned on and off" at any time.
"The power plant supplies 1,300MW of electricity to Bangladesh. But its switch is in Jharkhand," he said.
The Godda plant's power supply to Bangladesh was halved from 1,496MW to less than 800MW due to the outage.
This came at a time when Bangladesh was already facing an energy crisis with a deficit of around 2,500MW.
Invitation clarification
India clarifies Brics invite to PM Rahman
India has clarified that it invited PM Rahman twice for a bilateral visit and to attend the BRICS Summit in his capacity as BIMSTEC chair.
"We had invited the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for a bilateral visit. Subsequently, he was also invited to attend the BRICS Summit in his capacity as the Chair of BIMSTEC. Therefore, he had received two invitations—one for a bilateral visit and the other for participation in the BRICS Summit," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.