Tamil Nadu would soon become surplus in power: Jayalalithaa

Chennai, June 9 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Saturday reiterated that the state would soon become surplus in power owing to various measures taken by her government.

"I am personally overseeing the power situation in the state. I assure you that the state would regain its status of being surplus in power," said Jayalalithaa while campaigning for her party's candidate V.R. Karthik Thondaiman for the forthcoming June 12 by-poll in Pudukottai assembly constituency, around 350 km from here.

Listing out various power projects in the state, Jayalalithaa said the 3,500 MW gap between power demand and supply would be bridged soon and the state would be free of power cuts.

She said the previous DMK government did not take any steps to improve the power generation capacity in the state, leading to power outages now.

According to her, the power situation has improved with windmills increasing their production and the duration of power cuts having been reduced to three hours.

Listing out the various welfare schemes initiated by her government during the last one year, Jayalalithaa said her government has arrested 1,190 land grabbers in the state and restored land worth around Rs.758 crore to their rightful owners.

She urged people to vote for her party as she is working day and night to make the state number one in the country.

The by-poll in Pudukottai is necessitated after the death of CPI's legislator S.P. Muthukumaran in a road accident in April.