The Delhi BJP swims against the current. The party on Thursday hit back at Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit accusing her of misleading people by claiming that electricity rates in the Capital were the lowest in the country. Delhi BJP Chief Vijay Goel said the power tariff in AP, Haryana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh was much lower than what it was in Delhi.
“The Chief Minister is misleading the people of Delhi by making false claims. Power tariff in States like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana is much lower compared to Delhi. Cities like Chandigarh and Dehradun, too, have lower power tariffs,” Goel said. Ridiculing BJP’s promise of slashing tariffs by 30 per cent if it came to power, Dikshit had that BJP would cut tariff by 30 per cent by curtailing supply. “Delhi Government has been colluding with discoms. The Congress Government has allowed a hike of over 72 per cent in power tariff in the last couple of years and more than 300 per cent hike in rates over the last 10 years,” said Goel. The power tariff in the city was hiked by 22 per cent in 2011 followed by a 5 per cent increase in February last year. The tariff was hiked by up to 2 per cent in May last year and again by 26 per cent for domestic consumers in July 2012. The tariff was hiked again by up to 3 per cent in February of this year and again by 5 per cent in July. Following the 5 per cent hike in tariff by DERC, Government had announced a subsidy for those limiting their monthly consumption to 400 units.