Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders, including Supriya Sule, NCP (SP) candidate from Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, and Ravindra Dhangekar, Congress nominee from Pune Lok Sabha constituency, staged a protest on Thursday at Power House Chowk in Pune against the electricity tariff hike.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sule denounced the electricity tariff hike as "unjust". "The state government has increased the electricity tariff excessively from the month of April. Common citizens, who are already suffering from inflation, will have to bear the financial burden due to an increase in electricity tariff," she said. Sule also warned that the protest will continue until the government withdraws the electricity tariff hike.
Dhangekar shared a video on X in which he voiced his concerns, "The state government is increasing the electricity tariff when elections are approaching then what will they do when the elections are done? People should think about this. Like they have given a shock to the people (by increasing electricity tariff), the people will also give a shock to them soon."
Senior Congress leader and former MLA Mohan Joshi, NCP (SP) Pune City chief Prashant Jagtap, Congress Pune City chief Arvind Shinde, and many other leaders were present at the protest.
Starting April 1, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has increased its tariff. Consumers will see an average 7.50 per cent increase in their electricity bills, along with a 10 per cent rise in the fixed rate. This is bound to affect all consumer categories, including households, traders, farmers, and industries.
