india

Updated: Jan 10, 2020 15:22 IST

Workers of the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday launched a massive protest outside Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s residence in Chandigarh against the recent hike in power tariff in the state.

Police used water cannons on the protesting AAP workers, who were led by the party’s lawmaker Bhagwant Mann.

Power rates in Punjab went up by 36 paise a unit from January 1 for domestic consumers in the state.

The AAP had submitted memorandums to the Congress-led state government seeking scrapping of power purchase agreements signed with private thermal plants by the previous SAD-BJP led government.

The party, last month, had accused the Congress of “failing” to honour its poll promise of cancelling the agreements with private thermal plants after forming the government.

It claimed that there had been recurring hikes in electricity rates allegedly because of pressure from private power companies. It said the implementation of the hike of power tariff was the result of the coal washing charges of Rs 1400 crore to be paid to two private thermal power plants.

The balance amount of Rs 1300 crore, it said, would be paid in coming months and it would also result in a further burden on the consumers.

The protest by the main opposition party in the state AAP comes after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) spoke against the Congress government over the issue of power tariff.

On Wednesday, the SAD’s chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had alleged that private power thermal plants were given “undue benefits” of Rs 2500 crore by the Congress-led state government and sought an independent probe into it.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, the former deputy chief minister, had accused the state government of “deliberate laxity” in pursuing disputes involving Rs 2500 crore on account of coal washing charges.

(With agency inputs)