Cong MLA to 'protest with begging bowl' for power tariff reduction

New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) Senior Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma will sit with a "begging bowl" at the Delhi Secretariat on Monday seeking an immediate reduction in domestic power tariff and protest against the petition filed with the DERC by BSES seeking a hike in the tariff.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Sharma, who is also the chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Board, said he was taking the extreme step after his repeated requests to DERC for not entertaining BSES's petition, seeking a hike in power tariffs, were turned down.

He said he also sent a cheque of his salaried amount, to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to be passed on to the power companies to make up for their "fabricated" shortfall in profits but it was returned to him.

This, he said, has forced him to sit on an agitation with a begging bowl to raise funds for the distcom.

Condemning the double standards of the BJP in their approach towards the power companies, he alleged that the party was acting in league with the power companies instead of protecting the interest of the common man.

UNI