Patiala, October 28: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) organised a state-level protest outside the headquarters of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) here on Friday against the hike in power tariff.
About 300 party leaders and workers gathered for the protest. An equal number of police personnel guarded the PSPCL headquarters to prevent any untoward incident.
Senior party leaders Bhagwant Mann, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Aman Arora and Baljinder Kaur led the protest. They lit an earthen lamp at the gates of the headquarters, claiming that “PSPCL da diwala nikal gaya” (the PSPCL had gone bankrupt) and the lamp was a sign of it.
Mann claimed the state government had failed to deliver on all fronts and promises made in the Congress’ election manifesto had remained unfulfilled. “The increase in power rates has put an additional burden on all sections of society.”
Even after the change of guard, the state of affairs had not changed a bit, the Sangrur MP said, adding “the only change has been the venue for protests — it was Bathinda for the past 10 years and, now, it is Patiala”. Mann added that SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh were hand-in-glove and the CM always shielded Majithia on the issue of drugs.
Leader of the Opposition Khaira said, “AAP will raise the matter of power tariff increase in the next Assembly session.” He claimed healthcare and education facilities in the state were in doldrums and the situation was getting worse by the day.
Khaira hit out at the Congress government for failing to generate jobs. “Rather than generating more jobs, as had been promised in the election manifesto, the government is shutting down existing services. This will add to the number of unemployed youth.”
Sunam MLA Arora condemned levying of entertainment and professional tax and said it was against the principle of GST — one nation, one tax.
The party leaders also criticised the police action against anganwari workers, who had gathered here a few days ago. The government was using the state machinery, especially the police, to muzzle dissidence, they said.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
