New Delhi: Navjot Singh Sidhu was all charged up on Friday as he took on the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government for imposing power cuts in Punjab but what the Amritsar East Congress MLA conveniently forgot is that he himself is one of the state’s biggest individual electricity dues defaulters. At present, Sidhu has an outstanding electricity bill of ₹8,74,784 for his Amritsar residence.“In March 2021, Sidhu owed the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) ₹17,62,742. At that time, the PSPCL launched a drive against defaulters and Sidhu paid ₹10 lakh. A sum of ₹8.74 lakh is still pending,” said GS Khaira, the superintending engineer of PSPCL, Amritsar.

“Sidhu has applied for one-time settlement of the bill, raising doubts on surcharges which is under consideration,” he said. A senior PSPCL official at its Patiala-based headquarters said: “Before giving advice and suggestion to others, Sidhu should clear his dues. Many consumers with a lower outstanding amount faced disconnections, but due to Sidhu’s political clout, the department didn’t take action.”

PSPCL officials said that the last date to pay the bill was July 2, and if Sidhu failed to clear his dues, action would be initiated against him. Making the most of the situation, opposition parties in Punjab have been sharing the outstanding bill of Sidhu on social media.

Despite repeated attempts, Sidhu’s phone was switched off and he was not available for comment.

Incidentally, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh had allotted the power portfolio to Sidhu instead of local bodies when he resigned in 2019, claiming that his services had been downgraded. For the past year and a half, Sidhu has been criticizing his own party’s government over power purchase agreements and costly electricity.