Chandigarh, Apr 23 (PTI) Opposition parties in Punjab on Thursday lashed out at the AAP government over power outages, alleging "gross mismanagement" by the Bhagwant Mann dispensation.
The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited on Wednesday announced a series of scheduled power shutdowns across several major cities in the state as part of a massive drive to modernise the state's electricity distribution network.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said rising demand and inadequate supply arrangements have led to prolonged outages.
He said electricity demand has crossed 11,000 MW even as heatwave conditions intensify, but the state has "failed" to procure sufficient power from external sources.
"Punjab was turned into a power-surplus state during the Akali Dal government through the setting up of thermal plants, ensuring uninterrupted supply to agriculture, industry and households.
"The present dispensation has reversed those gains, leaving residents to endure long outages at the peak of summer," Majithia alleged in a statement.
Majithia said children and the elderly are the worst affected as homes remain without electricity for long hours in extreme heat.
Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar termed the power cuts an instance of "gross mismanagement."
"'Andher Nagari, Chaupat Raja!' Now that summer has arrived, electricity across Punjab has been shut down for maintenance. Couldn't this work have been done in February or March?" he wondered.
"When the power corporation doesn't even have a regular chairman, who is making decisions? Despite the availability of solar power, when electricity is cheaper during the day, power is not being supplied to people," he said on X.
Jakhar said from businesses to commoners everything was hamstrung by the outages.
"The Chief Minister is on a foreign tour. Is this the governance model of your party, Bhagwant Mann?" Jakhar said.
The BJP leader said such major repair work was never scheduled during peak summer before.
"With power cuts during the day, industries are forced to operate at night, increasing both operational costs and the financial burden on the power corporation," he said.
Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa too hit out at the AAP government, pointing out the stark contrast between the chief minister's ongoing Europe tour to attract industrial investment and the "worsening" electricity situation back home.
Randhawa said that while the government is showcasing Punjab as an attractive investment destination abroad, the ground reality tells a very different story, with power cuts crippling daily life and economic activity.
Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring questioned the PSPCL's claim that the power cuts were "planned" and had been necessitated for maintenance reasons.
He asked why the corporation did not carry out the maintenance in winter as is the standard practice.
Warring labelled it a "dubious distinction" the Aam Aadmi Party had achieved to push the power surplus Punjab to a power deficit state.
Meanwhile, AAP leader Neel Garg hit back at Jakhar for his statement and said, "It is extremely ironic that those who pushed Punjab into decades of power crisis and darkness during their rule are today shedding crocodile tears and doing politics over a mere 2-hour maintenance-related power cut meant to strengthen the system."
He added, "Jakhar perhaps does not remember that during his tenure and that of his former allies, long power cuts were a common occurrence. But today, when the Mann government is working to secure the future, they are feeling uneasy."
Under other parties' rule, Garg claimed, farmers were forced to irrigate their fields in extreme cold and under the dark.
"The power infrastructure had completely collapsed because previous governments never worked with foresight," he said.
"Darkness was 'normal' for them back then, but today, when the Mann government is fixing the system, they see it as a 'problem'," Garg said.
He insisted, "The current power cuts are being imposed to strengthen the electricity infrastructure and to prevent major technical failures in the future."