Tamil Nadu: Political parties oppose hike in power tariff, demand roll back

Chennai, Dec 12: Political parties in Tamil Nadu on Friday opposed the latest power tariff hike effected by the AIADMK government and demanded rollback of the 15 per cent across-the-board revision.

Citing reports in a section of media, DMK president M Karunanidhi said the hike had been effected without getting the approval of Tamil Nadu Energy Regulatory Commission.

"On behalf of the DMK, I insist that the power tariff hike effected for the second time should be rolled back," he said in a statement.

DMDK founder and Opposition Leader in the Assembly Vijayakant termed the increase as "unprecedented" and said the ruling AIADMK had earlier effected a hike within months after coming to power in 2011.

He termed it as a "betrayal" of the people who had voted for the AIADMK in this year's Lok Sabha polls, where the party won 37 of the 39 seats in the state.

Vijayakant suggested administrative reforms, prevention of power theft and opting for low-cost wind energy to address the issue of financial losses for state-run Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd.

PMK founder S Ramadoss, MDMK leader Vaiko and CPI (M) also flayed the tariff revision and sought its immediate rollback.

PTI