The Delhi BJP, along with the representatives of various Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) of the city, staged a massive protest near the Delhi Secretariat on Friday against power bills spiked by Power Purchase Agreement Cost (PPAC) and demanded immediate withdrawal of the hike in the tariff.
The protestors burned the electricity bills demanding the resignation of the Delhi government.
Addressing the protest rally, Virendra Sachdeva held Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal responsible for introducing PPAC in Delhi. He said the Sheila Dikshit government imposed a 1.5 per cent PPAC instead of increasing electricity rates in 2011 under pressure from the then civil organisation “Urja” and Kejriwal’s new movement.
Sachdeva recalled that the BJP had strongly opposed the move while some civil society organisations even approached the court on the issue.
Back in 2014, the Delhi BJP chief said during President’s rule in the city then Power Minister Piyush Goyal convinced power distribution companies (discoms) to put the PPAC on hold at the instance of the Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay.
He further said that from August 2014 to September 2015, PPAC was not applied to electricity bills in Delhi, but the Kejriwal Government re-imposed it after coming to power.
Sachdeva said while the power discoms repeatedly demanded a hike in electricity rates, Kejriwal never allowed obliged for political reasons. However, the AAP increased the PPAC from 1.7 per cent in 2015 to 37 per cent.
Sachdeva said by making it part of the business regulation plan for calculating power traffic in Delhi Kejriwal accorded legal sanctity to PPAC.
Commenting on the pension surcharge, which was 1 per cent in 2015, Sachdeva pointed out that it is now 7.5 per cent. Meter charges and load surcharges have tripled during Kejriwal’s 10-year tenure.
The Delhi BJP chief hit out at the Delhi government for not purchasing power in advance from the grid putting to ease the burden on the residents.
As the protestors proceeded towards the ITO crossing police barricading Sachdeva was detained and taken to the IP Estate police station by the police before being released later.
The protest organised under the direction of North West Delhi MP and BJP leader Yogendra Chandolia, was joined by West Delhi MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat, BJP Delhi leader Vishnu Mittal, former MP Ramesh Bidhuri, MLA Vijender Gupta and Praveen Shankar Kapoo, along with other leaders of the saffron party.
Speaking on the occasion, Chandolia said frequent increases in electricity tariffs have brought financial distress to the people of Delhi at a time when they are grappling with water woes. He said Kejriwal betrayed them with the promise of free electricity.