Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan accuses Satheesan of ‘bypassing’ KSEB and Minister for GNA deal

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday accused Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan of bypassing established procedures and overruling the KSEB and the Electricity Regulatory Commission to push through a power purchase deal with GNA.

He alleged that instead of providing answers to serious questions surrounding the controversial agreement, the Chief Minister was creating confusion and ambiguity to evade scrutiny.

Vijayan said Satheesan had admitted that he took the final decision based on the file placed before him.

However, this raised the question of why the Kerala State Electricity Board's (KSEB) proposal to purchase power from Himachal Pradesh was sidelined despite undergoing technical and financial scrutiny.

The department minister had also recorded his opinion in favour of purchasing power from Himachal Pradesh after discussions at the official level, he said.

"On what legal and other criteria did the Chief Minister decide to accept the GNA offer?" Vijayan asked.

He sought to know whether the KSEB had informed the government that the GNA offer would result in huge financial losses and whether the Chief Engineer had submitted a detailed examination report.

The Opposition leader alleged that the Chief Minister had taken a unilateral decision instead of following due process, imposing an avoidable financial burden on the KSEB and electricity consumers.

He also questioned whether selectively quoting a few lines from a note written by Rajamanickam, the then KSEB Managing Director, could erase the objections raised by the Board.

If the government had nothing to hide, why were the entire file and the letter received by it not made public, he asked.

Vijayan further sought clarity on whether the State Electricity Regulatory Commission had stated that there was no need to purchase power at higher rates between November 1, 2026, and March 31, 2027.

If the Commission's findings were wrong, what legal action had the government taken, he asked.

He also demanded to know why the Chief Minister had chosen to directly pursue the GNA agreement, rejecting the views of the KSEB, the Regulatory Commission and even the department minister.

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