Akalis dig at Amarinder Singh on power crisis and Sidhu's dues

Reported Unpaid power bill of Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has become a new political issue in Punjab.The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday  took a dig at Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over reports of rebel Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's unpaid power bills amid a crisis in the sector. Sidhu owes an outstanding power bill of Rs 8.74 lakh pending for his house in Amritsar for the past several months. On top of this he has been needling his own party's state government over several issues, including recent measures taken to tackle the state's difficult electricity situation. "There is no need for power cuts in Punjab or for the Chief Minister to regulate office timings or AC use of the common people...if we act in the right direction," Sidhu wrote in a Twitter thread.

Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Superintending Engineer GS Khaira said, “It was the bill of over eight months which was to be paid. Sidhu owed us (PSPCL) Rs 17,62,742. But he had paid an amount close to Rs 10 lakh in March, when we conducted recovery drive. Later, he had some objections over the surcharge amount and kept it pending. His case is being reviewed,” he said.

"Captian saab, if you are done with torturing Punjab due to power shortage then please do spare some thought for this leader...having not paid power bills which runs into lakhs, this minister needs your utmost sympathy," SAD tweeted.

The blame for suffering of farmers & the common man lies squarely with @capt_amarinder.He has as power minister presided over collapse of PSPCL which is now unable to provide adequate power to Pbis even though the SAD led govt had made Pb power surplus.1/2https://t.co/TdTkPNKVZc

— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) July 2, 2021