CM Channi is lying regarding cancellation of power deals: Harpal Singh Cheema

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior leader and Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema accused Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of lying and said that Channi had surpassed even the Akali Dal Badal president Sukhbir Singh Badal in lying. Harpal Singh Cheema contended that Chief Minister Channi was not only lying about the cancellation of deadly and costly power purchase agreements (PPAs) made by the Badal government with the private thermal plants; instead was spending crores of rupees from the exchequer on this false propaganda and making his hollow publicity.

In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Saturday, Harpal Singh Cheema challenged the Chief Minister Channi to prove to the people of Punjab by showing a single document or notification regarding cancellation of power agreements that the advertisements regarding cancellation of power contracts on hoardings and boards across Punjab are correct?

Harpal Singh Cheema said that it was not only a fraud but also a punishable offense to claim cancellation of power agreements without cancellation. He warned the Channi government that the party would launch an awareness campaign on the false and misleading propaganda of the false Channi government; if it did not immediately stop this false propaganda being carried out by the government with public money. Cheema added, “If necessary, the government can be taken to court against such false propaganda.”

The AAP leader further said that as soon as the Channi government came to power, it had announced the cancellation of power deals and therefore it was claimed that the Assembly session would be convened. But the government kept running away from convening the assembly session. Finally, two months later, when the two-day session of the Legislative Assembly was convened for constitutional pretence, the Channi government refused to rescind the deadly power deals. But in the run-up to the elections, there has been a ‘drama’ of manipulating tariffs on power deals that is being touted as cancellation of PPAs; which is morally and practically wrong.

Cheema has also sought clarification from the ruling Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on the Channi government's claims regarding the cancellation of the agreements. He said that as long as the deadly, costly and unilateral agreements with private thermal plants were not scrapped and new cheap and pro-Punjab agreements were not made, relief to the people and exchequer of Punjab from power mafia would not be possible.

Harpal Singh Cheema said that AAP's protracted struggle against power mafia had brought a great deal of awareness among the people of Punjab which made it difficult for the ruling Congress to answer the questions of the people regarding high electricity bills and power guarantee given by Arvind Kejriwal. To avoid this, the Channi government is resorting to false propaganda of cheaper power than the rest of the country and about the cancellation of power agreements. But the people of Punjab are aware of this false propaganda, because even the latest electricity bills did not show any relief to the people, he added. Cheema claimed that only Arvind Kejriwal can guarantee cheap electricity, 24 hours and 300 units of electricity per month for free; because he (Kejriwal) has implemented such a model in Delhi.