The AAP stated that the Union government was depriving the states of their rights and weakening them by abolishing all the rights of states.

Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), while commenting on the renewed solicitation of suggestions from the states on the issue of Power Act 2020 being brought by the Union government, stated that the Union government was depriving the states of their rights and weakening them by abolishing all the rights of the states.

In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Saturday, senior leader and MLA Aman Arora said that there was a big gap between the words and deeds of the Union government. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi government had earlier promised the farmers that it would not come up with the Power Act 2020, but had now started preparations again to benefit its corporate partners.

Aman Arora

Arora said that with the implementation of this Act, all the rights related to electricity would go to the corporate houses. He further said that the Modi government was working for big families including Adani and Ambani by turning a blind eye to the people of the country.

Arora said that despite Punjab being a power surplus state, the people of Punjab had to buy expensive power due to the agreements made by the government with the private thermal plants. "With this Act, the distribution of power would also go into private hands. The private companies will retain the areas where they would be benefited and the areas where there would be loss will remain with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited," he added.

He said that with this act the power to appoint officers in the power corporation would also be taken over by the central government, which will further handover it to the corporate houses, not directly but indirectly as per its whims and fancies.

AAPThe AAP leader further said that the kind of environment the central government was creating was paving the way for the benefit of the corporate houses like Adani and Ambani. Arora said that with this law the farmers, Dalits or anyone else who was somehow getting free electricity would be cut off and the economic burden would be further borne by the downtrodden in times of inflation.

He said that the Aam Aadmi Party was already taking up the issues of the people from the streets to the assembly and was demanding that the expensive electricity being provided to the people should be provided free of cost, but this law of the central government will put more burden on the people and the Aam Aadmi Party opposes this law.

He further appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to take up the issue with the PM Narendra Modi and express his strong protest and explain how this law would prove to be dangerous for the people of Punjab. "With this law, the people who are already buying expensive electricity will have to buy more expensive electricity," he added.