Chandigarh, May 1
The Shiromani Akali Dal has staged protests across Punjab against power cuts in both rural and urban areas, alleging that the disruptions have caused hardship to people across sections of society.
Senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the demonstrations were organized at the constituency level with participation from party leadership and workers. “The dharnas witnessed a strong response from locals who are fed up with repeated supply disruptions as well as the callousness of the Aam Aadmi Party in dealing with the problem,” he said.
Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal criticized Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, alleging failure to ensure timely short-term power purchases and to secure advance power exchange agreements with hill states. He said it was a matter of concern that while the state faced frequent outages, the government remained engaged in “fake publicity and hollow campaigns.”
Badal said that during the SAD government from 2007 to 2017, Punjab was transformed into a power surplus state through the addition of thermal, solar, hydel, and biomass projects. He claimed that subsequent governments did not expand generation capacity to meet rising demand, leading to the current deficit.
He said the party would work to restore Punjab’s power surplus status if it returns to power in 2027. The protests reflect growing political pressure on the state government over electricity supply, with the issue likely to remain a key point of contention in the coming period.
