The BJP, on Friday, was quick to respond and take credit for the overnight roll back of power tariff hike of up to seven per cent imposed by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay claimed that it was the pressure built up by the saffron party that the power regulator “had to” withdraw imposition of fuel surcharge on electricity bills.
“The political atmosphere created by BJP with media support in the last 24 hours in the national Capital forced the DERC to recall its decision to hike power tariff,” said Upadhyay. He added that the BJP would go to any extent to fulfil its commitment of cheap and properly priced regular power supply to Delhi.
Officials said the hike was withdrawn because of “new inputs” from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on power production costs. The overnight turnaround raised speculation about a political
intervention, with elections in Delhi expected early next year.
On Friday, lieutenant Governor Jung described Thursday’s decision as
“miscalculation”. Upadhyay had said on Thursday that his party would raise the tariff issue with Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
‘Reversal’ a pre-election gambit, says Congress
Alleging connivance between DERC and the BJP, the Congress on Friday claimed
credit for Delhi’s power regulator
DERC’s decision to withdraw the tariff hike of up to seven per cent, a day after announcing the increase.
Accusing the BJP of reneging on its poll promises, Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh lovely alleged that the ruling party at the Centre had “forced” the regulator to raise prices under pressure from corporate groups.
“After Congress threatened to launch
widespread protests under which its leader Mukesh Sharma sat on an indefinite fast, BJP had to relent and once again force the DERC to rollback the hike in prices,” lovely said
during a Press conference.
The Congress leaders warned that if BJP comes to power, get ready for massive hike in power tariff. Congress leader Haroon Yusuf said the reversal was “unprecedented” in the history of Delhi.
“The way the order was reversed overnight is unprecedented in the history of Delhi and it’s clear that it was done keeping elections in mind,” Yusuf said. Senior Congress leader Mukesh Sharma had begun an indefinite fast this morning demanding roll back of the power tariff hike.
DERC is just the Govt’s stooge: AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday slammed the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) for working as the puppets of the Government claiming that the BJP got scared of the public backlash after the AAP
challenged the power tariff hike on Thursday and then asked the DERC to withdraw the hike. Senior party member Yogendra Yadav said, “This
decision of a rollback of the hike within 24 hours of making a decision proves that DERC is not an independent agency. If they say that a last-minute input came in from NTPC, which made them change their mind, it actually raises questions about their credibility more than anything else.”
Yadav further said that the BJP was using back-door ways to initiate such changes. “The BJP can’t directly increase the power tariff, so it is using such methods of implying it. However, after we condemned the hike on Thursday right after it was announced, BJP got scared and had it rolled back. We congratulate the people of Delhi for this and also warn them that the BJP Government will in some way or the other initiate such things eventually,” he explained.
Khetan assured that once AAP came to power, there would be transparency in the power sector, power tariff would be cut by 50 per cent and all auditing of discoms will be completed.