Political blame game over power crisis intensifies between Keralam government and Opposition

DYFI activists stage a torch-lit protest against power cuts outside the KSEB office at Gandhinagar in Kochi on Friday (September 11, 2026). | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT The political blame game over the reasons for the current power crisis in Keralam intensified on Saturday (September 12, 2026), with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government and the Opposition crossing swords over who is responsible for the disruptive electricity cuts bedevilling the State.The night-time lights-out, which has become an inconvenient marker of daily life in the State after a 10-year hiatus, seems to have hurt the UDF government’s public image, if the upwardly spiralling trolls and outrage on social and conventional media are any indication.The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has exploited the power crisis to portray the previous LDF dispensation in a better light ahead of the upcoming byelections in 36 local body wards in the State. For one, on Saturday evening, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] held protest meetings at the branch level across Keralam to protest the UDF’s “mismanagement” of the power sector.The CPI(M) has also accused Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph of displaying “magisterial arrogance and apathy” by purportedly stating that there was “no switch” to solve the power crisis and that people had no choice but to endure the rolling night-time power outages.Satheesan’s argumentNotably, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan had repeatedly sought to put the previous LDF government on the hook for the crisis. He argued that the LDF government’s “unthoughtful scrapping” of the “fiscally advantageous” long-term power purchase agreement signed by the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government with private power suppliers to ward off future shortages in 2011 had precipitated the situation.Mr. Satheesan also cited unprecedented heat, surging demand from electric vehicles and air conditioners, depleted hydel storage levels caused by a weak monsoon and a national power-generation deficit as drivers of the current crisis.Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan accused the UDF government of obscuring facts to save face. He said the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) had cancelled the agreement in 2023, citing a lack of regulatory approval.Mr. Vijayan noted that the LDF had objected in 2011 to several controversial clauses in the agreement that “advantaged profit-driven private power suppliers” over Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), a public utility.Mr Vijayan said the LDF government, nevertheless, decided to go ahead with the 2011 agreement in the larger public interest. The Cabinet also superseded the commission’s decision to scrap the agreement through a government order.“But the private suppliers backed out. Still, the LDF’s proactive planning pre-empted disruptive power cuts despite the climate and power deficit at the national level cited by the UDF government”, he said.Status reportMeanwhile, the UDF Cabinet is scheduled to review the power situation on Wednesday. Mr Satheesan had called for a detailed status report from the KSEB last week and explored financial measures to mitigate the crisis. So far, the UDF has indicated that it is not inclined to raise the power tariff for domestic consumers, possibly fearing a political backlash. Published - September 12, 2026 07:15 pm IST