The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : BJP alleges move to dilute free power policy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 05, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

BJP alleges move to dilute free power policy

Staff Reporter

ON THE WARPATH: State BJP President N. Indrasena Reddy and other party leaders staging a dharna in front of the Transco office in the city on Tuesday protesting against poor quality of power supply to farmers. — Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

HYDERABAD : State BJP president N. Indrasena Reddy and dozens of party leaders, including Kisan Morcha president Kallem Balreddy, were arrested when they staged a dharna here protesting against the Government's move to dilute its policy of free power.

Traffic on the busy Khairatabad-Punjagutta road went haywire for almost an hour in the afternoon even as the city police made arrangements to divert traffic during the dharna at Vidyut Soudha, the headquarters of APTransco.

Addressing party cadre, Mr. Indrasena Reddy charged the Government with diluting its pre-poll promise of free and unconditional power supply to farmers. He accused it of trying dishonour its promise by imposing restrictions.

The restrictions include asking farmers to install capacitors, frictionless foot valves, pumpsets with BIS mark, putting a cap of not more than three connections and asking them to give up growing paddy under borewells.

Mr. Balreddy demanded restoration of supply to all those connections which were snapped for non-payment of old dues and steps to ensure 12-hour uninterrupted and unconditional power supply to farmers.

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