Cong needs to undo wrongdoings of SAD: Pargat

Tribune News Service

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Jalandhar, February 11

Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment Pargat Singh has said the party needs to step up actions and undo wrongdoings of the SAD to correct the general perception against it across the state.

Adopting a somewhat harsh tone against his own party, Pargat has once again shaken the political scenario by saying, “The people of Punjab think that the Congress and the SAD are playing a friendly match and if the Congress does not fulfil the promises made to the masses of checking sand mining and faulty power contracts, it would be like endorsing such perception further.”

Seconding the opinion of Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, Pargat has demanded that the first and the foremost step that the state government needs to take is to conduct an internal audit of the agreements that the SAD had signed with private players in generating thermal power in the state.

He said there was no need to produce a white paper as an internal audit could be the best option and would bring out the fault lines in the agreements.

The MLA said the agreements had a condition that the state would buy all produced power whereas there is a huge variation in the electricity requirement between summer and winter.

“There is no provision to sell surplus power to other states in the winter. The government has to bear the losses on this account. The power rates have to be increased by Rs1.56 per unit every year which is a huge burden on the masses,” said the Congress leader.

Being closely associated with former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Pargat has sided with him once again. “He is a dear friend of mine. His problem is that he speaks straight and says too much. But, he is honest and sincere. His decision to stay away from politics is adversely affecting the government and Punjab as a whole. Some compromise needs to be worked upon between him and the CM for the betterment of all,” he added.