Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 11 (IANS) Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday made it clear that the Kerala government had not signed any agreement with GNA for the purchase of electricity, while alleging that attempts were made to put pressure on him to approve a deal by projecting an impending power crisis.
Addressing the media soon after chairing the weekly cabinet meeting, Satheesan said the government had received two proposals for power purchase, one involving electricity from Himachal Pradesh and the other through GNA.
After examining both options, the GNA proposal was found to be more economical, he said.
However, he stressed that selecting GNA as the more favourable option did not mean that any agreement had been signed with the company.
The Chief Minister alleged that there were attempts to create pressure by projecting an imminent shortage of electricity and insisting that he take an immediate decision.
He said he would not sign any agreement without examining all aspects of the proposals.
The controversy has triggered a war of words between Satheesan and his predecessor, Pinarayi Vijayan, with both sides trading charges over the state’s power purchase decisions.
Questioning the previous LDF government, Satheesan asked what it had done during its 10 years in power to address the state’s electricity requirements.
He also challenged the Opposition to specify which documents it wanted to examine, asserting that all procedures were being followed properly.
He accused Vijayan of making contradictory statements on the issue and took a swipe at CPI-M state Secretary M.V. Govindan for joining the criticism without properly understanding the matter.
The Chief Minister’s remarks come against the backdrop of the KSEB’s initial assessment that Kerala could face severe power cuts from November 1.
A subsequent assessment by a new team of officials reportedly revised the earlier position, raising questions over the urgency projected in the original report.
Satheesan has also questioned the absence of long-term planning for power generation and storage during the previous decade, pointing out that Kerala meets only around 15 per cent of its electricity needs through domestic generation.
Responding to a judicial probe as demanded by Vijayan into the power purchase deal, he said: “Vijayan is being misled by someone on the power purchase issue.”
The Cabinet decided to recommend a special session of the Kerala Assembly from November 30 to December 10 to take up legislative business.
–IANS
sg/vd
