PUDUCHERRY: Condemning the recent hike in power tariff, the INDIA bloc has called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh in Puducherry on September 18 (Wednesday).
The leaders of various parties made the decision to hold the bandh during a meeting at the CPI office in Mudaliarpet. They met to discuss the growing public discontent over the surge in power tariff.
The bandh is aimed to pressure the government into fully withdrawing the tariff hike and scrapping additional surcharges, demanding that only unit charges be levied. The politicians opposed the centre's ongoing move towards privatising the power sector, the local government's failure to prevent it, and its decision to introduce pre-paid metres in the union territory.
Starting from September 16, a series of protests have been planned with public campaigns to raise awareness, said Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president V Vaithilingam, along with DMK state convenor R Siva, and CPI state secretary A M Saleem.
Over the last five years, Puducherry has witnessed successive power tariff hikes. Despite the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission's recommendations in February, the government postponed the tariff hike earlier this year owing to the parliamentary elections. However, the hike was reintroduced on June 16, sparking widespread outrage.
A few days ago, after the INDIA bloc staged a protest, the government announced a subsidy for power consumption up to 200 units, but the opposition parties demanded a complete rollback.
Former chief minister V Narayanasamy, MLA M Vaidyanathan, former minister M Kandasamy, former government whip R K R Anantharaman, DMK MLAs Anibal Kennedy, L Sampath and R Senthilkumar, CPM state secretary R Rajangam, VCK general Secretary Devapolilan, former MLA Nara Kalainathan, AITUC general secretary Sethuselvam, and leaders from political parties including AAP and MDMK took part in the meeting.