Chandigarh Congress begins chain hunger strike against privatisation of electricity

Local unit president HS Lucky stated that five activists of his party will sit in the chain hunger strike from Wednesday onwards for next seven days to express solidarity with the people of the city and employees of the department

Members of the local Congress unit on Wednesday started a chain hunger strike for the next seven days against the privatisation of the UT electricity department.

Local Congress president HS Lucky has asked the local BJP leaders to clear their stand on the issue. (Keshav Singh/HT)

Local Congress president HS Lucky has asked the local BJP leaders to clear their stand on the issue. He criticised the stony silence of the BJP and called the action as “injustice” being perpetrated on the people of Chandigarh and the employees of the electricity department by the home ministry-led UT administration.

Lucky stated that five activists of his party will sit in the chain hunger strike from Wednesday onwards for next seven days to express solidarity with the people of the city and employees of the department.

On the first day of the protest, Lucky led the group of party activists at Nehru Park, Sector 22-B. Councillors Gurpreet Gabi, Jasbir Bunti, Taruna Mehta, and party youth wing’s former president Manoj Lubana sat in the day-long hunger strike along with him. On Thursday, another team of party leaders will replace them at the same venue.

The UT administration had announced that the privatisation process of the power department will be completed by the end of 2020. However, the UT Powermen Union challenged the move in court on December 1, 2020, stalling the process. The high court dismissed the petition last month, paving the way for privatisation.