Power tariff hike: Hooda stages dharna

PANIPAT: To highlight the plight of the public due to hike in power tariff, unprecedented power cuts and amendments to the Wakf Properties Lease Rules, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda along with several sitting and former MLAs today staged a dharna at 8 Marla Chowk in the city.

Congress leaders help former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda sit at the dharna venue in Panipat on Sunday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Panipat, February 7

To highlight the plight of the public due to hike in power tariff, unprecedented power cuts and amendments to the Wakf Properties Lease Rules, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda along with several sitting and former MLAs today staged a dharna at 8 Marla Chowk in the city.

During the dharna, leaders of the party lambasted the state government over the sharp increase in power tariff and demanded a roll back.

Hooda announced to gherao the Vidhan Sabha on the first day of the Budget Session if the state government failed to take action on the issues related to the people.

Criticising the state government over power tariff hike, Hooda said the BJP government had already burdened the consumers with hike in power rates and unprecedented power cuts had increased their woes.

“The government has been claiming to provide regular electricity to all sections of society, but the consumers have to face regular power cuts. In such a situation, the government has been misleading the public by surrendering the power of thermal plants,” he said.

“I had sent letters along with other material relating to the scam in connection with the ‘girdawari’ and paddy procurement, but the state government has neither taken any action to get these matters investigated by the sitting judge of the high court nor has cleared it’s intention in this regard,” said Hooda.

Due to amendments to the lease Act of the Wakf Board, scores of people, who have been running their businesses on the Wakf Board’s land, would be on road and the government should sort out the problem, he demanded.

Hooda, accompanied by Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, Rajya Sabha member Shadi Lal Batra, former Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, former Finance Minister Sampat Singh, former Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan, Geeta Bhukal, Virender Pal Bulle Shah, Satpal Sangwan, Anand Singh Dangi and other leaders, urged the gathering to support the Congress for raising the issues relating to the general public.

Hooda assured the gathering that the Congress would not let them down and would fight for them till the BJP government fulfil its poll promises and withdraw the decisions taken against the general public.