Why public money was 'squandered' in buying power at higher rates: Rahul

New Delhi: Continuing his attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today asked him why public money was “squandered” in purchasing power at higher rates from private companies.

Asking the third question in the series “a question a day”, Gandhi asked Modi why the coffers of four private firms were filled between 2002-2016 by buying power of Rs 62,549 crore. “My third question to the prime minister. Why were the coffers of four private companies filled between 2002-16 by buying power of Rs 62,549 crore.

“By reducing the capacity of state power units by 62 per cent, why was power bought from private companies at upto Rs 24 per unit against Rs 3 per unit? Why was public money squandered,” he asked the prime minister on Twitter.

Gandhi has sought accountability from the ruling BJP for the promises the saffron party made to the state in previous polls. “22 salon ka hisaab, Gujarat mange jawaab (Gujarat demands answers for 22 years of BJP rule,” is the tagline of Gandhi’s posers to the prime minister.

The Congress vice-president previously asked Modi why the people of Gujarat should pay up for the “financial mismanagement” and publicity by him. He also asked whether it will take 45 more years to provide new houses to Gujaratis as the incumbent BJP government in the state has provided only 4.72 lakh houses in the last five years against the promised 50 lakh.