Roll back power tariff hike, says BJP
Sets up panel to meet CM today
GS Paul
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 22
Sparing a thought for the unprecedented hike in power tariff in urban areas, Balbir Punj, All-India Secretary of the BJP and person in charge of the state party affairs, said today that the issue would be dealt with on priority.

He was in the town to conduct the first core committee meeting of the party. Punj said a five-member panel had been constituted today, which would meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in this regard.

“It is a grave matter which should be on the top of list of priorities. In times of inflation, we have demanded that increase in power tariff in the domestic as well as in the industrial segment in the state should be withdrawn or the increase has to be paid through the treasury only. This is our long-pending demand which has remained unresolved till date,” said Punj.

The delegation, which included state BJP chief Prof Rajinder Bhandari, MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, former minister Balramji Das Tandon and Cabinet ministers, Manoranjan Kalia, and Tiksun Sud, would submit a memorandum to the CM in Chandigarh tomorrow.

The issue of installing the statue of late party leader Dr Baldev Prakash was also on the agenda of the core committee meeting. Punj said the statue would be installed on January 17 at Circuit House chowk in Amritsar.

Meanwhile, differences between Manoranjan Kalia and Navjot Sidhu that had surfaced due to the appointment of Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina as Chairman of the Improvement Trust, have reportedly ended. Both of them were seen embracing each other after the meeting at the Circuit House.