The deepening power crisis in Punjab spilled onto the streets on Monday, with farmer unions and the principal opposition party, the Congress, staging protests outside the offices of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) across the state, putting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on the back foot ahead of the upcoming assembly polls. Other political parties, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), also slammed the state government for failing to manage the crisis.
Addressing the protesters, Warring criticised chief minister Bhagwant Mann and alleged that the AAP government’s promises and claims were “hollow assurances. Warring also questioned the appointment of non-technocrats to key PSPCL positions and alleged that rules were changed to facilitate such appointments. He rejected the government’s explanation that coal shortage was responsible for the current crisis, pointing out that Punjab has its own coal mine. He attributed the decline in generation at the Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar thermal plants partly to the ongoing employees’ strike. In Hoshiarpur, farmers under the banner of KMM, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee started a sit-in outside the residence of cabinet minister Ravjot Singh, demanding an early resolution of the power crisis as unscheduled cuts were affecting crops. They also demanded fulfilment of their long-standing demands, including loan waiver, withdrawal of cases against farmers who participated in various agitations and those booked for paddy burning. KMM leadership also alleged rampant black marketing of urea and blamed the state government for not being able to control the situation. Led by the veteran farmer rights activist Satnam Singh Pannu, KMM supporters also held a protest outside the residence of state agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian in Muktsar district, while supporters of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) blocked all three entry and exit points of the Bathinda district administrative complex, inconveniencing commuters visiting the district headquarters of the civil and police administration.
BKU leader Manjit Singh Rai said that the 12-point demand charter had already been submitted to the government through the deputy commissioners, but the government failed to hold talks with the farmers. “If the farmer unions did not get a response by September 16, they would chalk out a broader form of action including blocking roads and railways.
In Patiala, police detained several Congress workers, including leaders, and used water cannons to disperse the protesters, the party said. A minor scuffle also took place between police personnel and protesters, according to Congress workers. Police detained many party leaders, including Warring, Congress workers said. He said farmers were being forced to spend heavily on diesel to run generators to save their crops, while prolonged and unannounced power cuts in rural and urban areas have added to people’s woes amid the heat. “The huge power demand in searing heat amid paddy season had exposed tall claims of the state government and PSPCL, which had made huge promises about Punjab being a power-surplus state,” he said. AAP promised that in its regime no one will have to resort to agitation, but the government’s callousness has forced everyone to take to the streets”, said Rai. Protesters said that the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government is making false claims regarding the power supply situation.
