Thiruvananthapuram, Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday accused Chief Minister V D Satheesan of creating confusion over the controversial power purchase deal with the GNA platform and demanded that all related files be made public.
Vijayan questioned the basis on which the CM decided to accept GNA Energy’s offer despite the objections raised by the KSEB and the views of the department minister. He also asked what evidence the government has to establish that GNA could supply power during peak hours. The opposition leader challenged the chief minister to produce records if any power purchase agreement had been entered into during the previous LDF government without a tender or regulatory commission approval.
In a statement, Vijayan said the chief minister was trying to evade serious allegations instead of providing clarity on the deal and asked why the government was reluctant to release the complete files and correspondence related to it. He said the KSEB had conducted technical and financial assessments of the proposal to purchase power from Himachal Pradesh and submitted its recommendations to the government. The department minister had also favoured the Himachal proposal after official-level discussions, he said. “If the chief minister has nothing to hide, why are the relevant files and the letter received by the government not being released in full?” he asked. Questioning the chief minister’s claim that GNA could supply more power than Himachal Pradesh, he said it was contrary to the KSEB’s technical reports.
“Where did the Leader of Opposition get the proposal that even KSEB says it has not received? He should be prepared to make it public,” the CM had said.
