Chandigarh: Sensing an imminent defeat at the hands of electorate, SAD-BJP government in Punjab is betraying its true colours as "dark days" of power cuts are back in the state, Opposition Congress said on Sunday.

"Sensing imminent defeat at the hands of electorate the Badal father-son duo have shown their true colours of being opportunist vote seeker politicians rather than statesmen," Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira said here.

Khaira also challenged Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for an open debate on his "lofty" claims of 25 years of Akali rule.

Several districts have been witnessing 3 to 4 hours of load shedding for the last three days, shortly after the one-day polling on January 30.

Though the state power utility attributed power cuts in industries to increase in demand by the agriculture sector and the ongoing maintenance of electricity generating plants, it said there was no load shedding in the domestic sector.

In order to bridge the demand-supply gap, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) announced a one to two-day power cut per week for industries across the state.

"Today onwards, we have imposed power cut for two days per week on heavy electricity consumers like induction furnaces and one day on rest of the industries," PSPCL, Director (Distribution), Arun Verma said on Friday.

The imposition of power cuts both in domestic as well as in commercial sectors have exposed the cheap politicking of the SAD-BJP government, Khaira said, adding that within days of polling Punjab was back to the old "black days".

Worst hit is the industrial sector with two days a week power cut, particularly the induction furnaces and the rolling mill consumers, Khaira claimed.

Similarly, the agriculture sector has been hit hard by power cuts forcing farmers to burn diesel to sustain their crops, he said.

PTI