AAP contests Modi's claims on power front in Gujarat

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today said power tariffs in Gujarat were among the highest in the country and debunked claim that the farmers in the BJP-ruled state were getting round-the-clock electricity.
The party also contested Chief Minister Narendra Modi's oft-repeated assertion that Gujarat was a power surplus state.
"Modi tours the country and says Gujarat is power surplus. But in reality, private power suppliers are selling energy to the state government at a high rate. The power tariff in Gujarat are among the highest in the country," AAP's Gujarat unit Convener Sukhdev Patel said here.
He did not provide figures.

Patel raised the issue of Gujarat farmers not getting round-the-clock supply of electricity, an issue on which several representations have been made to the Modi Government by Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), the BJP's farmer wing.
"If Gujarat is power surplus, why are farmers not getting electricity round-the-clock. Why is the State government not listening to BKS' representations?"

He said Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO which analyses Indian elections, has brought out a report stating that private power distribution companies were among the highest donors to BJP and Congress in Gujarat.
He said the Gujarat Government often tables the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) at the tail-end of Assembly session to avoid debate on crucial issues raised by the financial watchdog.

"The CAG has pointed out several loopholes in Gujarat Government's programmes. It has also highlighted corruption in these programmes. Even then, its report is nor debated on the floor of the Assembly," Patel said.