Thiruvananthapuram : The Opposition Leader is under impression that matters are like they used to be under UDF rule; Times have changed and someone should remind him that Pinarayi Vijayan is the Chief Minister now, said Electricity Minister MM Mani speaking with media Sunday.
The minister was refering to Ramesh Chennithala's ruckus claiming there is a long-term contract struck by the govt, although the Chief Minister, Electricity Minister and Left leaders have produced documental records to clarify there is no long-term contract with any private company whatsoever.
Kerala is buying electricity for the lowest tariff in ten years at Rs 2.80 and Rs 2.83 per unit of wind power and there exists just one contract in that regard - the one with central public sector establishment, the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited. However, Chennithala continues to repeat the blunder he first blurted, over and over again, said the minister.
As empty claims began to fall apart, Chennithala distributed copies of a short-term contract, entered via tender process to meet added consumption for months of March and April, to come up with the new argument that this was the contract he talked about originally. In reality, they are two different things and when that was explained in detail with documents on table, Chennithala changed his story once again saying he misheard ‘no long-term contract’ as ‘no contract’ in the context.
Given below is the list of long-term contract entered into by previous UDF govt during its tenure, numbering 11 contracts in all. Power then was purchased between Rs 3.91 to Rs 5.42 per unit. So imagine the magnitude of bribes involved, said Minister Mani. And, how big was the share the Opposition Leader, who was Home Minister at that time, receive, the minister quizzed.
