Jaipur, May 31 (IANS): Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has accused the former Congress government of gross mismanagement during its five-year rule, which according to him, is spelling trouble for the state at present.

According to Bhajanlal Sharma, who became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in December 2023, the previous state government that was operating from within the confines of five star hotels for many months, failed to provide good governance and hence was rejected by the people.

In an exclusive interview with IANS, CM Sharma said that the power and water crisis in Rajasthan were the result of this mismanagement.

Answering a question on a power crisis amid the heatwave he said, “Rajasthan is synonymous with sizzling summers. However, ignoring this fact, the Congress government in 2022-23 borrowed power from different states in August and September and signed a MoU for its return.

“Now, we are facing issues because 1.67 lakh units of power are being returned to these states that is creating a demand-supply imbalance in the state. Besides this, we are also supplying regular power to people.

"Further, the Jal Jeevan Mission, aiming to address water woes in the state was also not implemented on time by the previous government.

“The project was about to get completed in 2023, however, the Congress government failed to implement it.”

“In fact, they misused the Jal Jeevan Mission funds,” the CM said.

He said that the ruling Rajasthan Government was committed to providing these basic amenities to the people.

“We have signed MoUs worth Rs 1.60 lakh crore to boost energy production, strengthen the energy transmission system in the state and establish new projects for the production of thermal and renewable energy.

“In the next two years, each citizen of Rajasthan, including farmers, will get a smooth power supply and Rajasthan will become a power surplus state.

"We have also implemented the Eastern Rajasthan canal project and signed an agreement with the Haryana government to share the excess water flowing from its Hathnikund barrage, especially during the rainy days,” he added.

Continuing his attack on the former government, he said that the Congress has a tendency to mismanage things.

“Their government ran from hotels for many days due to which they were unable to redress the grievances of the people. Eventually, they ousted the Congress government in the Assembly polls,” the CM added.