Opposition parties on Friday criticised the government for the power tariff hike, calling it a raw deal for consumers who were reeling under the impact of inflation.
DMK president M. Karunanidhi urged the government to withdraw the hike. He said it seemed that the hike was announced unilaterally without taking into confidence the opinion of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC). Pointing to TNERC member S. Nagalsamy's dissent note published in The Hindu that the commission had met once in the last three months of the tariff exercise, that too only to finalise the dates of the public hearing, Mr Karunanidhi said his remarks had clearly proved that the hike did not have the approval of the commission.
“It seems a few individuals have gone ahead with the decision to increase the tariff,” he said, further quoting Mr. Nagalsamy's argument that the Tangedco had not replied to any of the letters from the commission requesting information and data.
ProtestDMK treasurer M.K. Stalin said in Dharmapuri that the party would organise mass protests if the government did not roll back the power tariff hike.
Talking to reporters, he said the hike was a steep one that was bound to affect consumers across the board. While the electricity tariff was hiked just once during the DMK rule, the AIADMK had ushered in steep hike in tariff twice since it came to power.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and DMDK founder Vijayakant termed the tariff hike a “betrayal” of people by the AIADMK for making it win 37 of the 39 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president, E.V.K.S Elangovan, said the party would hold agitations in all district headquarters on December 17 against the hike and frequent power cuts. If the government failed to roll back the hike even after the agitations, the party would be forced to exhort people to refuse to pay power bills.
BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan said the hike would result in a cascading effect on the prices of commodities and adversely affect the poor and the middle class.
MDMK leader Vaiko, PMK founder S. Ramadoss, CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan and Tamilar Vaazhvurimai Katchi leader Vel Murugan also condemned the hike.
