Kochi: The opposition Congress on Saturday said it won't allow the Left government to increase the power tariff in the state and alleged that the "crisis in the power sector" was the result of their mismanagement and corruption.
The cancellation of a 25-year contract, signed during the previous Congress regime, by the present government was the reason for the ongoing crisis, the party alleged. The long-term contract was signed to purchase electricity from outside at a nominal rate of Rs 4.29 per unit, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan told reporters here.
The LoP accused the CPI (M)-led LDF government and the Regulatory Commission of "conspiring" to cancel the contract. He charged that the Chief Minister's office was behind the corruption and that state Power Minister K Krishnankutty was kept in the dark.
The government was trying to pass on the additional burden of charges to the common man, Satheesan alleged. "The power tariff will not allowed to be hiked. We will fight against the (government's) corruption and mismanagement," the Congress leader added.
The opposition leader further said that after the cancellation of the contract, the electricity is being bought at Rs eight to Rs 12 per unit in the state. "Through this, the Electricity Board has incurred a loss of Rs 10 to 12 crores daily. So far, there has been a loss of at least Rs 2000 crores," he claimed.
He also sought to know who was responsible for the loss of crores of rupees through the abrupt cancellation of the contract signed for 25 years. A hike in the power tariff over this could not be allowed at any cost, he added.
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