Updated: November 3, 2020 6:26:48 pm
The Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh
Amid confrontation with the Center over its agricultural laws and President Ram Nath Kovind did not grant him a hearing on the matter, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced on Tuesday that he will lead a dharna relay in Delhi’s Rajghat to highlight the state power crisis and shortage of essential supplies. .
The crisis, triggered by the suspension of freight trains, was further aggravated in the state, leading to the complete shutdown of all power plants and a severe reduction in agricultural and plant supplies.
As Section 144 is in place in Delhi, Congress MLAs will walk from Punjab Bhawan to Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘samadhi’ in groups of four, Singh said, adding that he will lead the first group at 10.30 a.m. Amarinder reiterated his call to the MLAs of other parties. to join the dharna as well.
The last of the state’s private power plants, GVK, was shut down earlier today after running out of coal reserves. The state’s public power plants had already closed before.
The Chief Minister said the situation on the ground was discouraging as the state had run out of coal, urea / DAP and other essential supplies due to the Railways’ decision not to operate freight trains even after protesting farmers Against agricultural laws they eased their blockade. . The people of Punjab were looking at a dark festival season, he said.
He noted that the suspension of freight trains is also affecting states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. He reiterated his warning that the military would become easy prey for enemies if they don’t get their essential supplies before the snow falls.
Shortly after the Vidhan Sabha session, in which all parties had unanimously resolved to ask the president for time for November 4 (or any other suitable date) to request his intervention on the issue of agricultural laws, the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) had, on October 21, sent a letter to Rashtrapati Bhavan seeking a meeting. A reminder was subsequently sent out on October 29. However, the request was rejected because the state amendment bills are still pending with the governor. Subsequently, the CMO sent another letter stating that the Chief Minister and other MLAs needed time to inform the President of the situation on the ground and seek his intervention for a speedy resolution. However, the Office of the President responded by stating that “the request cannot be accepted at this time for the reasons cited above.”
Expressing development concern, the Chief Minister said that with regard to the State Amendment Bills, introduced pursuant to Section 254 (ii), the role of the Governor was limited to sending them to the President in accordance with the constitutional provisions. In any case, as the letter from his office made clear, that was not the only issue on which the state needed the intervention of the president, he added.
The Chief Minister also took serious note of the refusal of two central ministers to meet with MPs from the Punjab Congress to discuss serious issues of importance to the state. The ministers had requested time from the Ministers of Railways and Finance to discuss the suspension of freight trains and the non-payment of GST fees.
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