LUCKNOW, July 28 -- The Uttar Pradesh Vidyut Karmchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti has appealed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath to retain the energy department under his control and cancel the proposed privatisation of the state's power corporations. The committee claimed there were attempts to defame power utilities that, despite resource constraints, managed a record electricity supply this summer. In a recent core committee meeting, the Samiti passed a resolution asserting that the power staff maintained uninterrupted service during extreme heat, all while holding a peaceful protest against privatisation for the past eight months. It alleged that manipulated data was being used by senior officials and the energy minister to portray the sector as financially unviable. "We urge the CM to keep the energy portfolio under him and scrap the privatisation plan in the larger interest of the state," Samiti leader Shailendra Dubey said. The resolution claimed that assets worth over Rs 1 lakh crore belonging to discoms were being sold at undervalued rates, and land in 42 districts was being transferred to private firms at nominal costs. Separately, UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Awadhesh Kumar Verma pointed to objections raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the regulator over the privatisation draft. He attributed ongoing tensions between energy minister AK Sharma and top officials to these concerns. Verma also questioned the minister's silence on proposed tariff hikes, alleging that the narrative presented in the name of consumer interest was misleading....