“Govt leeching off the poor & middle-class people”, says HDK on power tariff hike

JDS leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy came down heavily against the state government’s move to hike power tariffs in the state. He took to Twitter to attack the government on the issue on June 28.

In a series of Tweets, the JDS leader said that the price hike was a stunt so that they can be reduced once the elections drew near. “Is this your (government’s) new idea of cost matching?” he asked.

He further questioned the propriety of the move as the tariffs were only hiked in April. “All the water reservoirs in the state are full due to good rainfall. Power generation is also good. The government itself is saying that there is excess power. What is the meaning behind this (price hike)?” he asked.

Kumaraswamy termed the tariff hike as “an attempt to further exploit the people who have been plundered by petrol and diesel prices” and blamed the “inefficiencies and inadequacies in the management of the Department of Energy” for the power outages.

‎”BJP means price rise, price rise means BJP,” he said and added that the BJP government was “leeching off the poor & middle-class people.”

Kumaraswamy opposed the price hike saying “Electricity rates should not be increased for any reason. A government that does not provide quality, regular power to the rural areas has no moral right to raise rates.”

He also warned of a public protest if the price hike announcement was not withdrawn.