Omar govt betraying people again by burdening them with electricity tariff hike: Dr. Abhijeet Jasrotia
Omar Abdullah-led NC government has once again betrayed the people of Jammu & Kashmir by hiking electricity tariffs instead of fulfilling its promise of 200 units of free power, said J&K BJP Spokesperson Dr. Abhijeet Singh Jasrotia, condemning the government for making the common man pay for its administrative failures and broken promises.
J&K BJP Spokesperson Dr. Abhijeet Singh Jasrotia, along with J&K BJP Media Incharge Dr. Pardeep Mahotra, was addressing a hard-hitting press conference at the J&K BJP headquarters, Trikuta Nagar, Jammu.
Dr. Abhijeet Jasrotia said the tariff hike will directly overload the pockets of the common people and shatter the monthly budgets of poor and middle-class families. Displaying a light bulb before the media, he said the electric bulb, invented by Thomas Alva Edison as a landmark invention, reached villages such as Karen, Dooru in Anantnag, and several villages in Reasi only decades later, receiving electricity after 2019.
“Thousands of people in these villages were denied even this basic facility for decades. When the NC government failed to provide electricity to its people for so many decades, what right does it have to bluntly increase electricity tariffs today?” Dr. Jasrotia asked.
Taking a dig at Omar Abdullah’s recent “guldasta” remark concerning media persons, he said sarcastically that perhaps this “guldasta” alone had enabled Omar Abdullah to reach the top position.
Dr. Abhijeet Jasrotia and Dr. Pardeep Mahotra also displayed copies of the NC’s 2024 Assembly election manifesto, accusing the party of repeatedly misleading people. He said the NC had been making oral false promises for 60–70 years, but this time made the mistake of putting its promises in writing. The manifesto promised 200 units of free electricity, raising hopes that household expenses would be eased, but after coming to power, the NC government instead burdened people with a tariff hike.
He said the NC government in J&K has failed people. Although not a popular support, having secured fewer votes but more seats, as he referred to the certain deeds of its leadership around 1951–52 period, but still it is answerable to the people, that why it has burdened their pockets.
Dr. Jasrotia said the Centre has opened the floodgates of funds for strengthening the power sector and improving infrastructure to reduce transmission and distribution losses. “When such liberal assistance is coming from the Centre, why are NC ministers failing to recover their own losses and instead passing the burden onto the people?” he asked.
Dr. Jasrotia said the NC has also failed on its promises of one lakh jobs, ration distribution and LPG cylinders, with numerous issues continuing to trouble the people.
Dr. Jasrotia demanded that the Omar Abdullah government immediately roll back the electricity tariff hike and honour the commitments made in its election manifesto instead of punishing the people for its own failures.
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