Patiala/Jalandhar/Bathinda/Ludhiana/Sangrur/Amritsar, Sept. 15 -- The deepening power crisis in Punjab spilled onto the streets on Monday, with farmer unions and the principal opposition party, the Congress, staging protests outside the offices of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) across the state, putting the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on the back foot ahead of the upcoming assembly polls. Other political parties, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), also slammed the state government for failing to manage the crisis. Power demand climbed to 17,405 MW amid sweltering heat on Monday, with PSPCL imposing frequent power cuts on domestic and agricultural consumers. Industrial consumers in the state are also bearing the brunt of the crisis, with the corporation imposing cuts in major industrial centres, including Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Mohali. Farmer bodies, led by Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), led protests at PSPCL offices in several districts, while Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring led a demonstration outside the corporation's headquarters in Patiala. In Patiala, police detained several Congress workers, including leaders, and used water cannons to disperse the protesters, the party said. A minor scuffle also took place between police personnel and protesters, according to Congress workers. Warring, who was leading the protest, accused the AAP government of failing to ensure adequate and uninterrupted power supply in the state. Congress MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi and others addressed the protest. Police deployed a large contingent and erected barricades to prevent protesters from advancing towards the PSPCL headquarters. Police detained many party leaders, including Warring, Congress workers said. Addressing the protesters, Warring criticised chief minister Bhagwant Mann and alleged that the AAP government's promises and claims were "hollow assurances." He alleged that the government promised uninterrupted power supply and eight hours of electricity daily to agricultural tubewells, but farmers are now struggling to get adequate power during the paddy season. "Neither are the fields getting adequate power nor are households and industries receiving uninterrupted supply," Warring alleged. He said farmers were being forced to spend heavily on diesel to run generators to save their crops, while prolonged and unannounced power cuts in rural and urban areas have added to people's woes. Warring also questioned the appointment of non-technocrats to key PSPCL positions and alleged that rules were changed to facilitate such appointments. He rejected the government's explanation that coal shortage was responsible for the current crisis, pointing out that Punjab has its own coal mine. Congress leaders, led by its MLA from Jalandhar North, Avtar Singh Junior, also held a protest outside PSPCL office. In Jalandhar, farmers demanded the state government fix responsibility for the failure to provide uninterrupted power supply promised by the AAP government during the paddy season to run tubewells for irrigation. Jagnveer Singh Chouhan, a farmer activist, said farmers across the Doaba region were getting neither canal water nor electricity to run tubewells. Another activist, Jaswant Singh, said farmers were being forced to spend on diesel to run tubewells and irrigate their fields."The power demand in searing heat amid paddy season had exposed claims of the state government and PSPCL, which had made promises about Punjab being a power-surplus state," he said. In Hoshiarpur, farmers under the banner of KMM, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Doaba) and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee started a sit-in outside the residence of cabinet minister Ravjot Singh, demanding an early resolution of the power crisis as unscheduled cuts were affecting crops. They also demanded fulfilment of their long-standing demands, including loan waiver, withdrawal of cases against farmers who participated in various agitations and those booked for paddy burning. BKU leader Manjit Singh Rai said that the 12-point demand charter had already been submitted to the government through the deputy commissioners, but the government failed to hold talks with the farmers. "If the farmer unions did not get a response by September 16, they would chalk out a broader form of action including blocking roads and railways," said Rai. In Faridkot, activists of the KMM gathered outside the residence of Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and began a five-day protest. Protesters said that the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government is making false claims regarding the power supply situation. KMM leadership also alleged rampant black marketing of urea and blamed the state government for not being able to control the situation. Led by the veteran farmer rights activist Satnam Singh Pannu, KMM supporters also held a protest outside the residence of state agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian in Muktsar district, while supporters of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) blocked all three entry and exit points of the Bathinda district administrative complex, inconveniencing commuters visiting the district headquarters of the civil and police administration. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) activists have been staging a protest near the district administrative complex (DAC) since August 30 in support of their demands, including exclusion of agriculture and dairy from the proposed Indo-US free trade deal, scrapping the land pooling policy, Rs.10 lakh compensation for families of farmers who died by suicide and withdrawal of cases registered against farmers over stubble burning. BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) also staged a separate protest against the state government over frequent cuts and other issues associated with farmers. In Sangrur, Jagtar Singh Kalajhar of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) said the uninterrupted electricity supply is crucial for the paddy crop, which is at the ripening stage. The protesters, who have been sitting on a dharna outside the district administrative complex in Sangrur since August 30, closed the gates, preventing employees from leaving the premises. In Amritsar, KMM leader Sarwan Singh Pandher led the protest and, besides other demands, also raised the issue of power crisis, saying it could hit paddy yield. In Ludhiana, farmer unions and industrialists held separate protests over frequent power disruptions....