Lucknow:
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Monday laid the foundation stone of 1,980 MW capacity thermal power plant in the state's Kanpur district.
The project, at Ghatampur in the district, is a joint collaboration between Neyvelli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRVUN).
Addressing a rally at the venue, the chief minister said his government was committed to improving the power scenario in the state.
He said without the availability of adequate power supply in the state, all-round development was extremely difficult. Industrial, social and financial development was only possible when power supply was in good measure, he added.
Akhilesh Yadav also assured that the state government would do all it could to increase power availability so as to ensure that development reaches all strata of the society.
The chief minister also said that more compensation would be given to farmers whose lands had been acquired by the project and it would be ensured that they were given employment on priority basis.
The chief guest, Union Coal Minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal said that the central government was committed to providing coal blocks and coal linkages for thermal power plants.
Mr Jaiswal further said that by the year 2015, the plant would be in a position to ensure that power crisis in Ghatampur, its nearby areas and Bundelkhand were met.
on with maximum votes.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, survived a scare to get six of its candidates elected, with two of them on second preferential votes.
Of the 12 candidates in the fray for the 11 seats for which polling was held at Vidhana Soudha earlier in the day, BJP won six, Congress three, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) one and Independents one.
Only state legislative assembly members (MLAs) participate in the council election.
In accordance with the assembly strength, a candidate requires 19 votes to get elected to the upper house (council).
Of the 225-member house, including a nominated member, 222 votes were polled, as one vote of BJP member (Rudresh Gowda) was declared invalid, while two members, including Independent B. Sriramulu and BJP's Nandish Reddy were not present to vote.
With 71 members in the lower house, though the Congress fielded four nominees, it counted on the five independents to get its candidate Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi the required (19) votes after ensuring 57 votes for three of them. It was not to be.
Due to cross-voting in the fiction-ridden party, Mr Saradgi could muster only 16 votes, losing the keen contest by three votes, while the party's other three nominees - Motamma, K. Govindaraj and MR Seetharam sailed through.
Similarly, with 120 members, the ruling party's (BJP) candidates should have won all the six seats comfortably, with six surplus votes. Instead of getting 20 votes each, two of its six nominees polled 19 votes and were declared elected only on second preferential votes, thanks to cross-voting by some of its "unidentified" members.
The JD-S, with 26 members, not only got its official nominee S.M. Agha elected on first count, but also ensured its seven surplus votes to Suresh, who secured 23 votes with 16 from the BJP and the Congress due to cross-voting.
A BJP spokesperson said the party would enquire to ascertain if there was cross-voting by its lawmakers, while the Congress said it would assess how its calculations went awry resulting in Mr Saradgi's defeat.
The project, at Ghatampur in the district, is a joint collaboration between Neyvelli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRVUN).
Addressing a rally at the venue, the chief minister said his government was committed to improving the power scenario in the state.
He said without the availability of adequate power supply in the state, all-round development was extremely difficult. Industrial, social and financial development was only possible when power supply was in good measure, he added.
Akhilesh Yadav also assured that the state government would do all it could to increase power availability so as to ensure that development reaches all strata of the society.
The chief minister also said that more compensation would be given to farmers whose lands had been acquired by the project and it would be ensured that they were given employment on priority basis.
The chief guest, Union Coal Minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal said that the central government was committed to providing coal blocks and coal linkages for thermal power plants.
Mr Jaiswal further said that by the year 2015, the plant would be in a position to ensure that power crisis in Ghatampur, its nearby areas and Bundelkhand were met.
on with maximum votes.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, survived a scare to get six of its candidates elected, with two of them on second preferential votes.
Of the 12 candidates in the fray for the 11 seats for which polling was held at Vidhana Soudha earlier in the day, BJP won six, Congress three, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) one and Independents one.
Only state legislative assembly members (MLAs) participate in the council election.
In accordance with the assembly strength, a candidate requires 19 votes to get elected to the upper house (council).
Of the 225-member house, including a nominated member, 222 votes were polled, as one vote of BJP member (Rudresh Gowda) was declared invalid, while two members, including Independent B. Sriramulu and BJP's Nandish Reddy were not present to vote.
With 71 members in the lower house, though the Congress fielded four nominees, it counted on the five independents to get its candidate Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi the required (19) votes after ensuring 57 votes for three of them. It was not to be.
Due to cross-voting in the fiction-ridden party, Mr Saradgi could muster only 16 votes, losing the keen contest by three votes, while the party's other three nominees - Motamma, K. Govindaraj and MR Seetharam sailed through.
Similarly, with 120 members, the ruling party's (BJP) candidates should have won all the six seats comfortably, with six surplus votes. Instead of getting 20 votes each, two of its six nominees polled 19 votes and were declared elected only on second preferential votes, thanks to cross-voting by some of its "unidentified" members.
The JD-S, with 26 members, not only got its official nominee S.M. Agha elected on first count, but also ensured its seven surplus votes to Suresh, who secured 23 votes with 16 from the BJP and the Congress due to cross-voting.
A BJP spokesperson said the party would enquire to ascertain if there was cross-voting by its lawmakers, while the Congress said it would assess how its calculations went awry resulting in Mr Saradgi's defeat.
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