The BJP Ganjam district unit blamed the State Government for the recent power tariff hike announced by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC). Hundreds of BJP workers led by district president Bijaya Kumar Swain came out in a procession and sat on a dharna in front of the Gandhi statue at Gandhinagar Square on Tuesday. Though the BJD came to power assuring farmers to provide them free electricity, now its Government has stabbed them behind the back by increasing the power tariff at the rate of 40 per cent, Swain said. The Government has shown undue sympathy towards corporate houses in this regard, Swain pointed out.
Describing the BJD as anti-farmer, BJP spokesperson Rama Chandra Panda said that while on the one hand, the Government has supported the OERC decision to hike the electricity tariff affecting common people and farmers, on the other hand, it has exempted electricity duty of Rs 128 crore to an industrial house. Instead of collecting outstanding dues worth Ts 5,000 crore from the distributing companies, the Government has imposed more burden on common people and farmers. Panda urged the Government to roll back the power tariff hike immediately. Former BMC Mayor Shiva Shankar Das alleged that the Government is working against the interest of the common mass, particularly farmers. If the Government fails to roll back the power tariff hike, the BJP would intensify its agitation, he cautioned.