Chandigarh decision on power tariff arbitrary: Manish Tewari

Chandigarh, June 9

Questioning Chandigarh’s governance model, MP Manish Tewari has criticised the UT Administration for taking “arbitrary” decisions that impact public “without consulting the people or public representatives”.

Tewari said, “It is unfortunate that the Chandigarh Administration, before proposing the 19% hike in power tariff to the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission, did not carry out any public consultations whatsoever with either public representatives, civil society and Resident Welfare Associations. It is a retrogressive step.”

He said neither 35 elected councillors nor the MP was consulted. “Were the 35 elected Municipal Corporation House members consulted for that is the only representative setup Chandigarh has? The answer is no. Was the sitting MP Kirron Kher consulted? The answer is no. Was the MP elect Manish Tewari consulted? The Answer is no,” he questioned in a post on X.

“This is exactly what is wrong with Chandigarh’s governance model that I repeatedly flagged during the elections,” added the Congress MP. The former Union minister, during campaigning for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, had been advocating making Chandigarh a city-state without disturbing the status quo of the Union Territory.