Ahead of the Assembly elections in Punjab, due early next year, the principal Opposition party — the Aam Aadmi Party — has decided to raise the electricity rate issue. The party plans to launch a State-wide agitation from April 7.
In the first phase of the month-long agitation, AAP would be staging protests in over 16,000 villages and wards across the State.
‘Give free power’
“We will launch a massive agitation from April 7 against the rising power prices and ask the Punjab government to provide free power in the State,” AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, told The Hindu on Friday.
Mr. Cheema said on account of the anti-people policies adopted by the Congress during its four years of rule, the people are suffering immensely.
“We had been raising the high power tariffs and other public-centric issues in the Assembly. The government, however, is paying no need to the problems being faced by the people. Now, we will launch a mass agitation to pressurise the government to resolve these issues,” he said.
Hitting out at the Congress, Mr. Cheema said the State government has failed to keep its promises made during the 2017 Assembly polls and the people have lost all faith in the government.
“The Congress had promised to reduce power tariffs before the 2017 elections, but after assuming power, the government had raised power prices multiple times. The Congress had promised that power agreements made by the previous SAD-BJP government with the private companies would be reviewed and cancelled. But it had been four years since the Congress came to power, the government has not taken any step. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said that White Paper on power prices would be brought but so far nothing has come,” he said.
“The people of Punjab are buying expensive electricity and in times of inflation, the government is imposing a burden on them. The government had given free hand to the companies to rob the people and fill their coffers,” added Mr. Cheema.
“Our party volunteers and workers will go door to door across the State to make people aware about higher power tariffs in Punjab in comparison to Delhi, which is ruled by AAP. We will burn copies of electricity bills as a mark of protest,” said Mr. Cheema.
