Channi misleading people on PPA cancellation: Mann

Mann has also claimed that the state government was still buying about 7,000 MW of power from the three private thermal plants at Rajpura, Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal Sahib at the same old rates

Chandigarh Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab president and chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann on Friday accused chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi of misleading people on the issue of power purchase agreement (PPA).

AAP Punjab president and chief ministerial candidate claimed though the announcement had not been implemented, crores of govt money had been spent on advertisements. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Mann said the announcement of cancelling the PPA has not been implemented to date, but the Channi government had spent crores of rupees from the state exchequer to advertise the cancellation of power pacts. “They will all be held accountable for their actions in the court of people,” he said in a statement.

Mann alleged that like the Badals and the Captain, the Channi government had also fixed its commission (brokerage) in power purchase and colluded with private power companies. “Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and Channi used to claim that if they came to power, they will immediately cancel the power agreements, but that has not happened,” he said.

The AAP leader also said the Punjab government was still buying about 7,000 MW of power from the three private thermal plants at Rajpura, Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal Sahib at the same old rates. “Channi, while announcing decrease in electricity rates, had said the agreement with Goindwal Thermal Power Plant has been cancelled. He had claimed that the government will buy electricity at ₹2.38 per unit and sell it at Rs. 2.65. This announcement has turned out to be a complete lie,” he claimed.