Left Parties plans stir in Andhra Pradesh on power crisis

The State government is trying to suppress public voice by foisting false cases against them. The CPI(M) will not step back on agitations, more particularly regarding power crisis, even if cases are registered, party State secretary B.V. Raghavulu has said.

Com Raghavulu said his party was all set to launch an agitation against the power policies.

Meetings, dharna, etc. would be organised during this month and the agitation intensified in December. There was no question of backing out, he said. The “lopsided policies” of the government led to the power crisis in the State. None had asked for free power for agriculture. Farmers, who were dependent on borewells, would have been benefited if the irrigation projects in their areas were completed.

The government would also have saved Rs. 3,000 crore on power subsidy. But the government chose to spend Rs. 56,000 crore on Jalayagnam, which was a “waste of public money,” he said.

The Communist Party of India has warned of launching “militant struggle” if the government failed to bear the additional costs incurred by the power utilities instead of burdening consumers in the name of fuel surcharge adjustments.

The party’s struggle in association with other Left parties would be much intense than the one in 2000 that had resulted in police firing at Basheerbagh in the city killing three youth, CPI State secretary K. Narayana said on Sunday. “Basheerbagh will be repeated in all the 23 districts,” he added while accusing the government of targeting consumers for its own failures.

To begin with, the CPI would organise dharnas and demonstrations in the urban areas of the State on November 15 and it would also participate in the Electricity Regulatory Commission’s hearing slated on December 3 to consider fresh bout of FSA. “The APERC is behaving like an agent. It is being used to burden the people,” he said lamenting proposals for an additional Rs. 14,000 crore burden on consumers were being readied. Dr. Narayana who briefed reporters about the two-day State executive meeting here on Sunday claimed that the FSA charges were far exceeding the actual bills in several instances. “People will teach a fitting lesson to the Congress whenever elections are held.”