AAP team meets speaker, seeks scrapping of PPAs with pvt firms

CHANDIGARH

CHANDIGARH

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday made a strong push for adoption of a resolution in the special session of the Punjab assembly to scrap the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by the previous SAD-BJP government with private power producers to bring down electricity rates in the state.

A party delegation comprising leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, Sunam MLA Aman Arora and Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan among others met speaker Rana KP Singh and sought his permission to move the private member’s bill titled “The Punjab Termination of Power Purchase Agreements with 3 IPPs Bill”, in the two-day special session of the state assembly commencing here on Thursday.

They also submitted a ‘call attention motion’ to the speaker, seeking termination of the PPAs. Kuwant Singh Pandori, Jai Krishan Singh Rori, Manjit Singh Bilaspur (MLAs), core committee member and state media head Manjit Singh Sidhu and party spokesperson Satbir Singh Walia were part of the delegation.

Cheema later said the private member’s bill seeking cancellation of power agreements was also submitted to the speaker, seeking permission to present it on the floor of the House on January 16 and 17, 2020. Taking a potshot at Akalis, Cheema and Arora said the meeting of SAD leaders led by former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal over high power tariff was a poly to earn some “political brownie points”.

Arora said the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government had promised to scrap the “anti-state PPAs” immediately after coming to power, but did not do anything. “Until these agreements were scrapped or tweaked, people will continue to groan under the heavy power tariff. If the government could terminate the pacts on water sharing and for running sewa kendras, what is stopping it from scrapping PPAs?” he asked.