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| - Fact Check: This photo of Punjab CM Channi climbing up an electricity pole is old
A photograph of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi climbing up an electricity pole is being circulated on social media with the claim that the CM is himself restoring electricity for the poor in Kurali in Punjab's Mohali.
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India Today Fact Check
The incident is from 2016, before Channi became the Punjab CM. Channi had climbed a pole to reconnect the power supply to the waterworks at Rupnagar's Sihon Majra village. The power supply of the waterworks was allegedly disconnected due to non-payment of electricity bills.
A photograph of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi climbing up an electricity pole is being circulated on social media with the claim that the CM is himself restoring electricity for the poor in Kurali in Punjab’s Mohali.
The caption of one such post reads: “Punjab CM Sh. Charanjit Channi got complaints from people of Kurali. Sh. Channi came to know that electricity in the area was cut after non payment of electricity bill by poor people. Sh. Channi went to the place and himself climbed the poll and restored electricity. [sic]”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim is misleading. This image is from 2016, years before Channi took over as the Chief Minister of Punjab.
AFWA PROBE
After much political turmoil in the Punjab Congress, Channi took oath as the 16th Chief Minister of Punjab on September 20 this year. However, we couldn’t find any recent report about Channi restoring electricity connection as claimed in the viral post.
We further did a reverse search of the viral photo and found the same image in a 2016 report by The Tribune.
As per this report, the photo is from July 27, 2016, when Channi climbed an electricity pole and restored power supply to the waterworks in Sihon Majra village in his assembly constituency Chamkaur Sahib in Punjab’s Rupnagar. During the time of the incident, the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance was in power in Punjab.
According to Channi, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had allegedly disconnected the power supply of the residents due to non-payment of outstanding electricity bills amounting to Rs 9.80 lakh. He had also demanded that the then government waive the water bills of every village in Punjab.
The incident was also reported by The Hindustan Times and The Times of India.
CHANNI WAIVES UNPAID ELECTRICITY DUES
Soon after taking charge as the new CM of Punjab, Channi announced that all outstanding electricity and water bills of the poor would be waived.
On October 18, 2021, Channi burnt copies of power bills to symbolize the state government's decision to waive off unpaid electricity dues of those having an electricity connection of up to 2 kW.
According to reports, the Punjab government had also decided to restore power to consumers who could not pay their bills even without the penalty.
We Promised and We Delivered
The waiver of unpaid electricity payments has commenced, as promised to the people of Punjab. The resolution to waive the arrears of all Punjab users with a 2 KW load has been put into effect today by burning copies of these bills. pic.twitter.com/TDLKZyMZLD — Charanjit S Channi (@CHARANJITCHANNI) October 18, 2021
However, it is clear that the viral photo is from a 2016 incident. Neither was Channi the Punjab CM nor was the Congress in power in the state when the photo was clicked.
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