The Karnataka Congress on Tuesday came under fire from the BJP for Rs 2.89 hike in power tariff for those consuming over 200 units per month. Several BJP leaders slammed the grand old party, saying the party had cheated the people of Karnataka as it had hiked power tariffs for most consumers.
However, today, some reports flagged that the said hike was done in March but could not be implemented due to a "billing issue". Some Twitter users tagged BJP's Khushbu Sundar while pointing to this fact and said the hike was done when the saffron party was still in power in the state.
Sundar, however, maintained that the Congress had promised free power so it can reject the hike done in March. "The CONgressis who tag me with the news saying the electricity hike in Karnataka happened in March, you are in power today and you have all the rights to reject it. So do it," she said.
The BJP leader also asked the Karnataka government not to implement the hike if they thought this was a bad idea. "Don’t implement it if you think it's a bad idea. You have made promises of freebies, so give them free electricity. What stops you?? Don’t behave or act like spoilt kids. I dare you, stop the implementation."
Earlier in the day, Anshuman Sail Nehru, a Twitter user, said that the BJP was spreading "fake news" that the electricity rate has been hiked by 2.89 Rs in Karnataka. "Fact is 1.49 Rs is one-time charge of March 23 as billing was deferred to June. 1.4 Rs hike was done in May before the results. No hike has been done by Congress Govt," he said.
Another user said that the hike was approved by BJP in March and was implemented by Congress in June. "Rs 1.49 FFPCA (Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment) per unit will be levied in June. Rs 1.4 arrears from April, May will reflect in the bill issued in June, taking the total to Rs 2.89."
On Tuesday, BJP's IT Cell Head Amit Malviya targeted the Congress, saying the Congress had promised 200 units of free electricity but it had now come up with a convoluted formula to exclude most people. He also said that the Karnataka government had also hiked power tariffs with immediate effect.
"Power bills for Bescom (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited) consumers to be up by Rs 2.89 per unit; tariffs across categories up by 70 paise/unit," Malviya said, adding that Congress didn't fulfill any promise made either in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan or Himachal Pradesh. "Now Karnataka has been cheated too."
The Karnataka government on Monday rolled out the free electricity scheme, which will be effective from July 1. Under the scheme, the government will take into account the one-year average power consumption in the 2022-23 financial year and will give free electricity up to 10 per cent more than the average usage.
If a consumer uses about 150 units of electricity a month on average, s/he can get free power up to 165 units of power. If the limit is exceeded, then the person will have to pay for the rest of the units consumed. If the usage exceeds 200 units of power, the consumer will have to pay the full amount of the electricity bill.