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Apr 30 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday took a swipe at the Centre over the issue of widespread power outages, saying the government has found the “perfect solution” to it which is to cancel passenger trains and run coal rakes.

He also said the ministries of coal, railway and power are desperately inventing excuses to hide their “monumental incompetence”.

Various states continued to reel under power crisis on Friday with soaring mercury pushing demand higher, as opposition parties blamed the Centre for coal shortage at thermal plants.

Attacking the government over the issue, Chidambaram said, “Abundant coal, large rail network, unutilised capacity in thermal plants. Yet, there is acute power shortage. Modi Government cannot be blamed. It is because of 60 years of Congress rule!”

“There is no incompetence in the Ministries of Coal, Railway or Power. The blame lies with past Congress ministers of the said departments!” he said.

“Government has found the perfect solution: cancel passenger trains and run coal rakes! Modi hai, mumkin hai,” the former Union minister said in a series of tweets.

Later, Chidambaram in another tweet said the ministries of coal, railway and power are desperately inventing excuses to hide their “monumental incompetence”.

“If they believed the yarn that we were witnessing a V-shaped recovery, they would have stepped up coal production and coal imports,” he said.

Despite the absence of a V-shaped recovery, and only a recovery in fits and starts, the government is “totally unprepared” to tackle the coal-rail-power crisis, the former Union minister said.