CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has targeted the Punjab Chief Minister for recovering ₹ 7, 000 from the consumers on the pretext of installing electricity smart meters by the state government. In a statement issued from the party headquarters, senior leader of AAP and MLA from Sunam, Aman Arora, said that Captain Amarinder Singh was cheating the people of ₹7, 000 by referring to them as 'electricity thieves', to take out his election expenses. He said that in the name of curbing power theft, Captain and PowerCom company were working together to collect money from the public under a planned strategy, while the Akali government and then the Akali and Congress leaders, owe lakhs of rupees to the power department.
Taking a dig at the Captain-led state government, Arora said, "When meters are already installed in everyone's residence, then during this time of pandemic, what is the need of putting a burden of ₹7000 on the general public in the name of smart meters? Due to the anti-people policies of the Captain government, today the most expensive power in the entire country is in Punjab." He said that Captain Amarinder, before the elections and after forming government in the state, had stated to cancel the agreements of Akali Dal with the private companies and issue a white paper on the same; but after forming the government, he had forgotten all these things.
Questioning the state government, Arora further said, "The government does not have any official data of power theft. So how did Captain, without any data and evidence; give the contract to PowerCom company to recover Rs 280 crore from the public in the name of stopping power theft." He said that Captain Amarinder had come to know that in the next elections, the people would reject him, that is why he started the business of looting the people instead of seeking votes. Arora said that 'Mafia Raj' was prevailing in the state, that is why the Chief Minister and his cabinet ministers were involved in all kinds of corruption.
He said that Captain had put the people of Punjab in further trouble by retracting from his promises made before the elections. "On one hand, a state like Punjab which makes its own electricity is selling the most expensive electricity in the entire country, whereas Delhi which is buying electricity from other states, is still providing electricity to its people for free, " added Arora. He said that CM Captain Amarinder Singh should learn from the Kejriwal government and give relief to the people of Punjab from inflation, corruption and black marketing.