Less than 15 days after Gopalkrishna Gandhi left the Raj Bhavan, incumbent Governor Devananda Kunwar on Monday questioned the logic behind the 2-hour mandatory powercut at Raj Bhavan as introduced by his predecessor on May 7 last year.

“Capacity addition only, and not dexterity of load-shedding, is the answer (to power crisis),” read a statement issued by Governor Kunwar in the evening.

What prompted the governor to issue the statement were some reports in a couple of vernacular dailies that claimed the governor had discontinued with the practice.

On this, the statement clarified: “If Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, could help by a two-hour voluntary load-shedding of power daily in the summers, it could definitely continue to do the same in winter also.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, the Governor said:

“I don’t want to trample on the tradition set by my honourable predecessor as has been reported in some local newspapers. But I wonder whether a two-hour power cut at Raj Bhavan is of any help.”

He added: “As far as the power situation in West Bengal is concerned, it is in a better position than states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and other eastern states. From Raj Bhavan, a drop or two cannot save the situation nor can it solve the problem.”

Interestingly, the CPM received a shot in the arm by Kunwar’s statements, as the party had criticised the former governor’s move at the very outset.

“It was at that time when powercuts were started that we said it was a stunt and it could not solve the problem of power shortage. The present governor’s statement is correct,” said Shyamal Chakrabarthy, CPM’s Central Committee member.

On the CPM dubbing the former governor’s move as a ‘gimmick’, Kunwar said: “I won’t call it that. I am only questioning if such measures could help solve the problems.” He further raised doubts on the practice of supplying the Raj Bhavan farm produce to charitable organisations — a move also introduced by Gandhi.