Power tariff hike casts shadow on Mahanadu

By Dasu Kesava Rao

VIJAYAWADA, MAY 28. The steep hike in power charges slapped by the Government hung like a dark cloud over the Telugu Desam mini- mahanadu, robbing it of much of the gloss on Sunday.

It was a businesslike session as the party president and Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, disposed of one resolution after another while the delegates displayed only perfunctory interest in the proceedings, in contrast to the enthusiasm evident on the opening day.

The talking point everywhere - in the pandal, corridors of the Siddhartha Academy and under treeshades - was the increase in electricity rates, frontpaged in most newspapers. The news was doubly embarrassing as it came when the party was midway through its annual general meeting and so soon after polling for the two by-elections in Bhongir and Chevella.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu has always argued that reforms should have a human face and hard decisions should not be foisted on the people without notice or tuning their minds. The sudden and the hefty hike must have left him quite flustered. He was understandably reluctant to field questions when he joined pressmen at lunch. The responses were half-hearted and halting.

Mr. Naidu was neither here nor there when, during the informal interaction, he agreed that the issue needed to be looked into in view of the scale of increase and, at the same time, said the recommendations of the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission had to be implemented, thereby ruling out chances of reconsideration.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu himself appeared somewhat surprised by the development as, he explained, ``I have been busy since yesterday with the Mahanadu''. The Cabinet accepted the Sub-Committee recommendations permitting AP Transco to enhance the tariff to the tune of Rs. 805 crores, but the Regulatory Commission approved a Rs. 1,095-crore hike.

He said the Government was giving Rs. 1,300 crores by way of subsidy to the power sector and another Rs. 700 crores towards payment of interest on bonds floated by it. The Government had no resources to further subsidise. Was it possible for the Government to cushion a part of this burden by giving more subsidy? This could be done, but the finances of the Government were already overstrained, he added.

The focus of the meet shifted in the evening to the nearby PWD grounds where the delegates went to attend the Government - sponsored Telugu Atma Gaurava Dinotsavam to mark the birth anniversary of the party founder and former Chief Minister, N. T. Rama Rao. A host of VIPs such as the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr. G. M. C. Balayogi, the Union Minister for Communications, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, the Assembly Speaker, Mrs. K. Prathibha Bharati, and Mr. Chandrababu Naidu attended.

A commemorative stamp of NTR was released and Telugu Atma Gaurava Puraskarams and Nandi Nataka puraskarams were presented to distinguished artists and other eminent people from different walks of life.

Earlier, the Chief Minister and other party seniors garlanded the NTR statue at Patamata centre.

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