New Delhi [India]: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers took to the streets in Delhi on Monday to protest against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the rise in power tariffs and water issues faced by the people.
The protest, led by BJP Lok Sabha member from West Delhi, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, took place in front of a 220 KV grid sub-station. Workers were also seen protesting against the Delhi government in the Chandni Chowk area.
On Friday, July 12, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva also staged a protest against the Delhi government over the hike in power prices in the national capital.
In February this year, the Delhi government revised the power purchase adjustment charge (PPAC) by discoms, resulting in a 6 to 8 percent rise in the electricity bills of domestic consumers.
Regarding the price hike, the BJP accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of conspiring with the discoms for their benefit. Delhi’s power minister and AAP leader Atishi countered that the opposition party has misled the public by circulating “rumours” that the PPAC is to blame for the rise in electricity costs.
Taking to X, Virendra Sachdeva said that the Kejriwal government is only interested in fulfilling their personal interests and that the introduction of the PPAC in Delhi is to expand its corruption and operate the scam system.
“The goal of the Kejriwal government in Delhi is only to fulfil personal interests; the AAP government never thought beyond this. In 2014, when Delhi was under President’s rule, the then Delhi BJP President Shri Satish Upadhyay ji, along with a delegation of RWAs, went to the then Union Energy Minister Shri Piyush Goyal and talked to the Power Discoms and got PPAC banned, due to which PPAC was not applied in electricity bills in Delhi from around August 2014 to September 2015. But the Kejriwal Government reintroduced PPAC in Delhi to expand its corruption and operate the scam system, and by making PPAC a part of the Business Regulation Plan for calculating power tariffs in Delhi, the Kejriwal Government has given it constitutional protection,” he said.
He further demanded an explanation of how the PPAC has increased from 1.5 percent in 2015 to 46 percent now.
“Today, the pension surcharge, which was 1% in 2015, has increased to 7.5 percent, and the meter charge and load surcharge have also increased three times in 10 years. Seeing the situation of our citizens in Delhi, a protest was held in Delhi today in which BJP workers and common people were present in huge numbers. Kejriwal and Atishi should answer how PPAC increased from 1.5 percent to 46 percent,” he said.