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| Arvind Kejriwal’s promise of free power intensifies upcoming assembly poll battle in Punjab | | | Agencies
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has promised ''free power'' to Punjab if his party AAP wins in the upcoming assembly elections in the Congress-ruled state. His announcement of free electricity, same on the lines of Delhi, has electrified the electoral battle in Punjab, posing a big challenge to ruling Congress and the main opposition parties SAD and the BJP.
A day ahead of his visit to Chandigarh, the AAP leader also claimed that women in Punjab are very unhappy with rising inflation. "...In Delhi we provide 200 units of free electricity to every family. The women are very happy. Women in Punjab are also very unhappy with inflation. The AAP government will also provide free electricity in Punjab. See you tomorrow in Chandigarh," Delhi CM Kejriwal had tweeted in Punjabi.
Kejriwal had earlier said that AAP will field a Jat Sikh as its CM face in the upcoming assembly polls and now he has promised free power, which the party is likely to use as a major poll plank in Punjab polls.
It may be noted that Kejriwal’s promise of providing cheap power and free water to millions of Delhi households had played a major role in his party’s victory in the last assembly polls in Delhi.
The AAP convenor, who has announced to scrap and renegotiate the lopsided power purchase agreements with private companies which run power plants in Punjab, wants to use his ‘free power’ promise as a trump card to woo voters during the crucial electoral battle in Punjab.
Punjab's main opposition party AAP had alleged that "faulty" power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed during the tenure of the erstwhile SAD-BJP government were adversely affecting the state's power utility.AAP has claimed that the people of Punjab will suffer if these agreements are not reworked. The party has blamed the erstwhile SAD-BJP government did nothing to bring down the power rates in Punjab and made the state heavily dependent on private companies for power generation.
Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann has also accused Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of not taking any action in the matter. So far, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has paid Rs 20,000 crore as fixed charges to three private thermal plants set up during the tenure of the SAD-BJP government. Of this, almost Rs 5,700 crore had been paid without getting any power supply, Mann claimed in a statement.
"There is no provision of any penalty in the PPAs even if the private players do not supply power throughout the peak summer and paddy season, which clearly exposes the intention of the private companies and the government," he said.
It may be noted that Captain Amarinder Singh rode to power in 2017 promising to scrap these power purchase agreements and re-negotiate them. However, nothing has moved so far in the last four-and-a-half years.
AAP wants to highlight the Amarinder Singh-led government’s failure in giving addressing the power woes of Punjab and providing any relief to the voters here.
Interestingly, ahead of his visit to poll-bound Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the state is getting ready for a new dawn. Taking to Twitter the Delhi CM said, "Punjab is getting ready for a new dawn. See you in few hours."
Earlier on June 21, Kejriwal announced that the party`s chief ministerial candidate for Punjab will be from the Sikh community. In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years.
Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.
Assembly elections in Punjab are scheduled to be held in February or March next year. |
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