Activists of the CPI(M) staged protests at the sub-stations in the city demanding the State government withdraw its decision to increase the power tariff.
Addressing the protesters, CPI(M) State Secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao said the government imposed a burden of ₹4,300 crore on the people – ₹1,400 crore through power tariff hike and ₹2,900 crore collected as adjustment charges.
“The government that has claimed to have saved ₹2,500 crore in power purchases should reduce the tariffs and not increase it,” he observed.
In the run-up to the elections, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, then in the Opposition, had promised not to increase the power tariff if voted to power. After coming to power, he had promised to supply power free of cost to those who consume less than 200 units. “Mr. Reddy has betrayed the people after the elections,” he alleged.
The agitation would continue until the government rolled back the tariff hike, he said.
