Hike in power charges a big blow to people: Nara Lokesh

Vijayawada: TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Wednesday slammed the Jagan Mohan Reddy government for imposing a 'steep hike' in power charges without considering the financial constraints of the people.

He demanded an immediate roll back of the hiked charges so as to prevent further burden on the public. Jagan Mohan Reddy promised to give free power like his father but backtracked, he said.

In a statement here, the TDP MLC said that the Chief Minister had become the brand ambassador for 'false promises'. The hike came like a big blow to the general public this summer. By cancelling categories and fixing six slabs, the government had given a rude jolt to the common man, he added.

Lokesh said the charges would now go up by 45 paise per unit below 30 units, by 91 paise between 31 and 75 units and by Rs 1.40 for 76 to 125 units. The hike would be Rs 1.57 per unit for 126 to 225 units, Rs 1.16 for 226 to 400 units and 55 paise above 400 units. This was enough to show how the YCP regime was punishing different sections of people.

He pointed out that all the welfare money being given by Jagan Mohan Reddy to an average poor family in a year would not be enough to pay power bills. The CM should apologise to the people for misleading them on free power given under the TDP rule and also 24-hour quality power. At that time, Jagan made false allegations of high power charges though the TDP regime did not hike rates, he added.

Lokesh said that after coming to power by raising false expectations, Jagan Mohan Reddy was imposing unbearable burden in the name of meters for motors and frequent hikes in electricity charges. The TDP handed over a power surplus state but Jagan Mohan Reddy had pushed it into deficit in no time.

The TDP MLC pointed out that the Chandrababu Naidu government transformed the power sector into a model for the entire country by implementing reforms. But now, power cuts were being imposed due to shortage in availability.

He recalled how the YSRCP carried out false campaigns that the petrol and diesel rates were very high during the TDP rule. But after coming to power, Jagan Reddy had increased fuel rates so much that the AP rates were the highest in the country.