Hyderabad: The ruling Congress and main Opposition TDP should be blamed for the present power crisis in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party alleged on Tuesday. "Had TDP voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, the Congress government would not have increased power tariff," (YSRCP) honorary president Y S Vijayamma said.
"TDP which sided with the government during the Assembly session is now sitting on dharnas (on power crisis) which convey nothing," Vijayamma, who began a `Current (Electricity) Satyagraha`, said. She was accompanied by YSRCP MLAs, MLCs and other party leaders.
Vijayamma said the government has imposed a burden of Rs 2,000 crore on the people in the form of hike in tariff and surcharges.
On the one hand there is no proper power supply and on the other, there is a sharp hike in power charges which forced farmers to commit suicides, she alleged.
Noting that her husband and late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy had given free power to farmers, she maintained that the free power scheme is being diluted by the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government.
While government revenue has gone up substantially, hike in bus fares, water charges, municipal taxes and power charges has put enormous burden on the common man, she said.
Hitting out at previous TDP regime, she dubbed as "rubbish" N Chandrababu Naidu`s claim that power sector was managed well during his rule as there used to be 18-20 hours of power cuts and said that he too increased power tariff eight times in nine years.
PTI
