MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday asked people in Maharashtra not to pay "inflated" electricity bills.
Along with the BJP, the MNS has been demanding concessions in electricity bills citing the economic distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic and highlighting complaints about many consumers receiving unusually high bills.
"It is my appeal to the people that they should not pay inflated electricity bills," Thackeray said in a letter on the issue to the Mumbai district collector where he demanded relief for consumers.
"If any official from the power distribution company tries to cut the connection, the company will have to face our strong protest. An MNS delegation had met state energy minister but the outcome was not promising. We even went to the governor who expressed disappointment over the state government's lack of interest in offering some relief," he said.
"I request the state government to be reasonable and offer some concessions in bill payment," Thackeray said.
The MNS also held protests in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad cities, seeking bill waiver.
Local MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said here that energy minister Nitin Raut had assured that power consumers would get "good news" before Diwali.
"He should clarify his stand now. Where is the relief?" Deshpande asked.