Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday asked Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to waive electricity bills for the last three months and provide relief to the people amid COVID-19 pandemic.
"People are at homes due to lockdown. There's been no work, no wages. Suddenly, Andhra Pradesh government gives them this blown up bill generated through faulty slab systems. Can the common man pay? We demand YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to waive bills for the last three months and provide relief to people," Naidu tweeted.
Naidu on Wednesday strongly objected to higher bills handed over to people and demanded that the YSRCP government waive them for at least three months in view of the nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Reminding the YSRCP of its election promise to reduce the tariff, Naidu said that the state government had lost all credibility and it was people's misfortune to go on suffering in all aspects after having voted the party to power a year ago.
Addressing a virtual press conference here, the TDP chief appealed to the government to revert to the old system of consumers classification into A, B and C groups based on their yearly average consumption as it would reduce the burden of increased billing on common people.
Naidu pointed out that the TDP government did not raise power tariff, nor imposed any sort of indirect burden on the people. "As of now, the common people were badly hit for lack of work and income during the last two months while migrant labourers returning home were facing untold hardships on the way. In such a time, even an old woman dwelling in a hut got Rs 3,424 latest bill as against Rs 200 in March. A mason, who has no work for many months, got a Rs 10,685 bill as against Rs 150 in March. They got higher bills because they were placed in higher groups because of the changed policy of this government," read a statement from TDP.
Accusing the ministers of speaking without awareness or consideration for people, Naidu said that the groups classification of consumers was broadly aimed at rationalising billing burden in accordance with the rise and fall in power usage by different segments of the population.
Naidu said that instead of responding to people's issues, the ruling party has made it a habit to launch counter-attacks and make accusations against the TDP and opposition leaders without respect to democratic norms and traditions.
The general public should post their increased power bills on social media to "expose this government's unjust and devious methods," the statement added.
( With inputs from ANI )