Sunny Joseph Rejects GNA Electricity Deal, Disputes CM’s Claim of Pressure to Sign Agreement

Kannur: Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph has once again rejected the GNA power deal, which Chief Minister VD Satheesan had personally taken the initiative to pursue, allegedly with the aim of facilitating large-scale corruption. Sunny Joseph said the GNA agreement was impractical and could not be pursued when compared with other available contracts. The minister also rejected the Chief Minister’s claim that there had been pressure to sign the GNA agreement citing a power crisis. He said the KSEB had not submitted any incorrect report.

“No electricity agreement has been entered into at present. Power from Sinnar will be available at a lower price. No one can say that electricity is not needed. Keralam’s power requirements are increasing every day,” Sunny Joseph said.

After the alleged attempt to rob the public in daylight by purchasing electricity through the private platform GNA came to light, the Chief Minister had publicly changed his position the other day. On Wednesday, the Chief Minister claimed that the KSEB had not entered into any agreement with GNA. The same Chief Minister who had announced on November 4 that he had decided to purchase power from GNA was now clinging to technicalities.

Until then, his argument had been that there were two offers before him — one from Himachal Pradesh and the other from GNA — and that he had approved the GNA offer after finding it more economical. It was only after claims that there was a power crisis and that GNA offered the cheaper option were exposed as contrary to facts that the Chief Minister, left in an embarrassing position, was forced to abandon the suspicious deal.

Moreover, the KSEB had clarified that the GNA offer was made to the government. It is at this stage that the Chief Minister is attempting to establish that there was no such agreement or deal.