The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused each other of hooliganism and violence as the scheduled public hearing of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) turned into a political battleground on Wednesday.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said he had filed a complaint at the Lodhi Road police station against Aam Aadmi Party “loyalists” since he was “forcibly prevented” from submitting his petition before the DERC.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, however, said, “If he has any evidence in the matter, he should show it. In fact, we have proof that Devinder Kumar Sehrawat misbehaved with Rakhi Birla while Vijender Gupta snatched papers from her hand and tore them up.”
In a tweet, Bharadwaj claimed that BJP MLAs came very late at the DERC hearing but wanted to speak first. AAP MLAs protested against BJP MLAs sitting in VIP area, he wrote on the microblogging site adding BJP MLAs were not ready to sit with the public.
“At DERC, it all started with DERC inviting @NitinTyagiAAP to speak( first some first serve basis). And @OPSharmaBJP interrupting MLA Nitin Tyagi. Then people asked BJP to reduce electric tariffs in BJP ruled states (sic),” Bharadwaj tweeted.
He also alleged that BJP MLAs used “filthy language against lady MLAs of the AAP”. Condemning the “hooliganism of AAP MLAs, leaders and workers” at DERC public hearing on tariff petitions, Gupta alleged, “I was forcibly prevented from submitting his petition before DERC. AAP MLA Jarnail Singh went to the extent of snatching the petition from my hands and tearing it into two pieces. BJP MLAs O P Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan, Sehrawat and Anil Bajpai were manhandled.”
He claimed that his personal assistant was badly beaten and his clothes were torn. “Representatives of various RWAs were manhandled and maltreated. They were not allowed to present their case in the public hearing,” the leader of opposition alleged.
Gupta, in his petition to the DERC, demanded the AAP government to roll back the fixed charges, Power Purchase Cost Adjustment Charges (PPAC), Surcharge and Pension Trust Surcharge.
Claiming that the Delhi government has increased the fixed charges on electricity bills by six times in just one year from Rs 20 to Rs 125 per connection, he demanded that the government compensates consumers the financial loss they incurred on account of payment of these charges.
Some consumers complained that due to commotion caused by the two parties, they wouldn’t get adequate time to put forth their views at the hearing.
The DERC will analyse all suggestions and objections received during the public hearing and consider it while determining new tariff rates.
Power sector experts said the process may take around a month’s time although efforts are made to come out with new tariffs as soon as possible.
