India News | After Housing Scheme Issue, Odisha BJP to Lunch Stir over Power Tariff Hike

Bhubaneswar, Jul 13 (PTI) The BJP's Odisha unit announced that it will launch a week-long agitation from Wednesday to protest against the electricity tariff hike and frequent-power cuts in the state.

The announcement came days after the saffron party completed a three-day stir highlighting alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) in the state.

Reacting to the BJP's plan for agitation, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said that opposition leaders should study the power tariff in states ruled by the saffron party before making allegations against the Odisha government.

"Power companies are hoodwinking the people of Odisha by frequent power cuts. While many people are struggling to make ends meet during the prevailing Covid situation, these power companies are adding to their trouble with tariff hikes," Mohanty told reporters on Tuesday.

Mohanty said that BJP workers will stage a protest in front of electricity offices across the state between July 14 and 20.

He also alleged that the BJD government in the state has not utilised properly the Central fund meant for post- cyclone power infrastructure restoration work.

"We demand a white paper on the repair and restoration of power infrastructure in the post-cyclone period. From cyclone Fani in 2019 to Yaas in 2021, the Centre has provided sufficient funds to Odisha which is enough to redevelop the infrastructure. The state government should release a white paper on how they spent the funds," Mohanty said.

The BJD, however, rejected the allegations made by the opposition party.

"The saffron party should stop shedding crocodile tears. Rather than commenting on the power tariff hike, it must do something about the skyrocketing prices of fuel," BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said. The BJP had staged an agitation for three days from July 7 in all the 314 blocks of Odisha highlighting alleged irregularities in the implementation of the PMAY-G. They also demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)