Congress government as well as the party’s high command  are merely blackmailing the power plant owners : Bikram  Majithia

(Says CM was lying on PPA cancellation and solar power rates, no PPA cancelled by govt or Vidhan Sabha)

(ASKS IF CM IS TOO NAIVE OR TOO CUNNING? “CHANNI SHOULD CONSULT ECONOMISTS INSTEAD OF MAKE-UP MEN “

Chandigarh Nov 17- Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia today blasted Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for “telling lies to the people of Punjab about the cancellation of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), adding that no PPAs had been cancelled so far contrary to loud claims of the Congress government which had even put up posters to sell this white lie”.

Wondering if the chief minister was really so naïve or actually too cunning, the senior SAD leader said “the Congress government as well as the party’s high command  are merely blackmailing the power plant owners to coerce  them into corrupt, under the table compromises. There are reports of Congress leaders enriching themselves with bribes running into hundreds of crores of rupees in exchange for non cancellation of PPAs,”  Majithia asserted adding the whole exercise of bringing the PPAs to the assembly was a massive fraud played on the people of Punjab as it was not the assembly but the state government which had to take an executive decision to cancel the power projects. “But either their legs trembled while doing it because they knew that it would be wrong and untenable as power is on the concurrent list, or they think they can hoodwink the people with empty resolutions instead of passing an executive order to cancel the PPAs”.

Asking   Charanjit Channi who claims having post graduated in economics to consult economic experts instead of make-up men and cinematographers,  Majithia said “your desperation to paint a “Me-too-a simple-man” picture is reminding the people of some other “Me-too” moments about you”. He also asked how many hundreds of crores of poor people’s money would be spent every week on a massive propaganda and publicity campaign for creating a fake poor and simple man image. A poor man doesn’t have crores of other poor people’s money to burn merely to sustain a false image,” the Akali leader asserted.

Majithia also challenged the chief minister to prove his allegation that the SAD government agreed to PPAs in which solar power would cost the state Rs 17 per unit. “I dare him to accept my challenge to resign and never contest again if one of us is found lying on the solar power tariff of Rs 17 per unit”. He said it was condemnable that the chief minister was trying to fool Punjabis about the central renewable energy project which went by the name – JawaharLal Nehru National Solar Mission. He said the bare facts were as follows. “The centre had earmarked the solar projects in Punjab as per its first come first served policy and it was the central electricity commission which decided on the tariff of Rs 17.28 per unit out of which the central government bore the major cost of Rs 12.50 per unit.

The Akali leader reminded the chief minister that the solar projects inked during the previous SAD led government had brought in an investment of Rs 6,000 crore into the State including an investment of Rs 1,000 crore done in the border belt. “It also helped farmers sign remunerative leases on underutilized land at the rate of Rs 50,000 per acre with a six per cent escalation clause besides leading to employment for four thousand youth. Any attempt to cancel these projects will affect the investor sentiment which is already at an all time low”, he added.

Majithia also exposed the Congress government’s conspiracy to politicize solar energy projects by releasing the white paper released by the State government in March this year. “The white paper complements the massive installation of solar and other renewable energy projects for which the State even received national awards during the erstwhile SAD led government”. He said Channi should tell Punjabis what was the truth. “The claims his government made in March this year or the white lies and deceit being propagated now?”