Criticising power tariff hike in Andhra Pradesh, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today said the state government is fleecing people.
Naidu visited the venue where state BJP president G Kishan Reddy along with party's two MLAs and other leaders have launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding roll back of the power tariff announced yesterday.
Naidu said the ruling party lacked foresight in formulating power policies which has led to increase in power tariff and power cuts in the state.
The Congress government has put a burden of Rs 30,000 crore on power consumers by increasing power tariff during the last five years and the latest hike is expected to put an additional burden of Rs 6,500 crore on them, he stated.
Andhra Pradesh is becoming "Andhera Pradesh" with power cut going up to 12 hours in rural areas, he lamented and said that both the ruling Congress and opposition TDP were responsible for making AP a power deficit state.
Appreciating the performance of BJP-ruled states in power sector, Naidu said uninterrupted power supply was bing supplied to the people and Gujarat was providing 24X7 power supply even in rural areas.
The new tariff schedule issued yesterday by Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission for 2013-14 that will come into effect from April 1 has allowed average increase of 58 paise per unit on low-tension category consumers and Rs 1.12 per unit on high-tension category consumers.
