Chandigarh: Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) national president Abhay Singh Chautala on Saturday demanded a white paper from the Haryana govt on the financial losses caused by the two-day power strike triggered by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission’s decision to grant a parallel distribution licence to Eleven Power Private Limited for Gurgaon and Nuh.Alleging that the disruption caused losses worth thousands of crores, Chautala said the power and water crisis hit households and farmers. He added that electricity employees were jailed and non-technical staff, including patwaris and teachers, were deployed to manage power supply, putting their lives at risk.Questioning govt’s stand against privatisation, he asked why it had allowed the situation to escalate for two days instead of immediately invoking Section 108 of the Electricity Act to seek reversal of the regulatory decision.He demanded clarity on who had authorised the move, adding that chief minister Nayab Singh Saini should resign if the decision had been taken without his approval.The INLD chief alleged that the licence had been facilitated by Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar and claimed the company was linked to a person close to him. However, these allegations could not be verified independently.Chautala said INLD’s national patron, Prof Sampat Singh, personally appeared during the proceedings on the company’s application and raised fact-backed objections, but the licence was granted despite the opposition.Targeting the Congress, he alleged that the principal opposition party had failed to challenge the decision and that its functionaries had not appeared before the HERC to register their protest.He claimed the silence exposed a nexus between the BJP and the Congress, holding both parties responsible for the damage caused to the state.
