AAP leaders stage stir, demand revival of Bathinda thermal plant

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs and other leaders on Monday staged a protest near finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s residence against the state government’s move

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs and other leaders on Monday staged a protest near finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s residence against the state government’s move to dole out hundreds of acres of land of Bathindra Thermal Power Plant, which was shut down two years ago, to its “loved ones”.

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The party members led by leader of opposition (LOP) Harpal Singh Cheema demanded revival of the power plant, which, they said, was lying shut due to the wrong policies of successive governments.

The protesters marching towards the Badal’s official residence were detained by the Chandigarh Police. As per a press release, AAP MLAs Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Gurmit Singh Meet Hayer and Jai Krishan Singh Rori, state political review committee chairman Harchand Singh Bursat and youth leader Sandeep Singla participated in the protest among others.

Cheema said they wanted to meet Manpreet Badal to remind him the election promise of reviving the thermal plant.

MLA Sandhwan said if the government has taken the unfortunate decision of closing down the thermal plant permanently, the land should be restored to the farmers from whom it was acquired in 1969.