Hyderabad: Bharatiya Janata Party Telangana unit president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Sunday called upon the people of the state not to pay Additional Consumption Deposit (ACD) along with electricity bill charges.
Speaking to media persons after participating in the Mann Ki Baat programme at Karimnagar, Sanjay sought to know why the people of the state should pay ACD charges for the inefficiency of the K Chandrasekhar Rao government in bailing out the distribution companies.
“The consumers are already burdened with increased power tariff to the extent of Rs 6,000 crore and the government is getting ready to impose additional burden of Rs 16,000 crore from April. Now, they are forced to cough up huge burden in the name of ACD charges,” he alleged and asked the people not to pay the ACD charges, but pull up the government.
Sanjay said it was a blatant lie on the part of the KCR government to say that he was providing power to agriculture sector free of cost. “The fact is that the government owed more than Rs 60,000 crore to the distribution companies to compensate the free power supply, leading to their virtual bankruptcy. The government departments themselves are due to pay Rs 20,000 crore to the Discoms. If the BJP comes to power, we shall clear all these dues. This would mean it will be the BJP, not KCR, who has provided free power to farmers,” he said.
Asking the people not to give vent to their anger at the electricity employees, the BJP president called upon the consumers to question KCR. “Ask him why he is not able to recover huge power bill dues and penalties in the old city of Hyderabad. He is trying to pamper the AIMIM and when we question the same, we are being accused of being communal,” he criticised.
Sanjay said it was shameful on the part of KCR to say that there were no suicides by farmers in Telangana. In fact, as per the National Crime Records Bureau figures, the state is in the fourth position in terms of farmers’ suicides. “Out of 90,000 farmers who had received compensation under Rythu Bima scheme, nearly 10,000 deaths were only by suicides. Who is responsible for their deaths?” he asked.
Ridiculing KCR’s claim that he would make farmers as MLAs, the BJP president said the claim was as true as making a Dalit as the chief minister of Telangana. The chief minister should first explain how many farmers and women were inducted into his cabinet, he said.
Sanjay alleged that KCR had completely duped the farming community. “In the name of providing cash benefit under Rythu Bandhu scheme, he had done away with all the other subsidies. He has cheated the farmers by not buying the paddy on time and not implementing PM Fasal Bima Yojana and not giving bonus to on the minimum support price (MSP),” he said.
Alleging that many villages in the state were not getting drinking water supply under Mission Bhagiratha scheme, Sanjay said the quality of water was so poor that it was unfit even for washing clothes. “It is ridiculous that KCR is talking about surplus water availability in the country when he is not able to utilise the available water within the state,” he said.
He reiterated his demand for publication of a white paper on the wealth amassed by KCR and his family members in the last eight years. He also challenged the chief minister for a debate on the development and borrowings of Telangana. Reacting to a question, Sanjay said the BJP was ready for early elections in the state. “The early polls talk is only to divert the people’s attention from real issues,” said.
Answering another question, the BJP president said there were no covert elements in the party, as claimed by senior leader Eatala Rajender. “I don’t think he made any such statement,” he said. Earlier, Sanjay conducted special prayers at Lord Anjaneya Swamy temple at Kondagattu in Jagitial district, along with other senior leaders.
Speaking to reporters at the temple, the BJP president sought to know why the chief minister had not released even a single rupee for the development of temples at Kondagattu, Dharmapuri and Vemulawada, as promised In the past. Reiterating his allegation that KCR was performing occult worship to appease evil forces, Sanjay sought to know whom the chief minister was targeting. “Such a worship aimed at destruction of others will not succeed,” he said.
