Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary hit out at the BJP-led Centre over rising electricity tariffs and prices of essential commodities, asking the party to explain the increase in the cost of power, onions, pulses and sugar over the past several years.
“You should bring out the figures for the last 12 years – how much electricity tariffs increased during the BJP’s tenure, how much electricity bills went up and how many times amnesty was given,” Choudhary told reporters on Thursday.
He was replying to questions about criticism by BJP for raising the power tariff by Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the NC-led government had provided several amnesty schemes for both domestic and commercial consumers since coming to power and had recently extended one such scheme.
“Since this government came into being two years ago, how many amnesties have we given and how many times have we extended them? Compare this with the number of electricity bill waivers given to people during the PDP-BJP government and during our tenure,” he said.
Choudhary also questioned the BJP over the prices of essential commodities, particularly sugar, onions, pulses and vegetables.
“Ask the BJP what the price of sugar is — Rs 70 or Rs 75 per kg. Have you asked them? You ask about the prices of pulses and vegetables, but why not onions?” he said.
He said the impact of rising prices was felt most by poor and middle-class families.
“An ordinary poor person may not know whether his electricity bill has increased by this much or that much. He knows the price of the sugar he needs for his tea. He knows the price of pulses and onions,” Choudhary said.
He said issues such as rising school fees also needed to be raised with the BJP.
“Ask BJP leader Sunil Sharma (leader of opposition) about electricity, onions, pulses and vegetables and also about the increase in fees in educational institutions,” he said.
Choudhary said the concerns of ordinary people should remain at the centre of political discourse rather than focusing only on issues affecting affluent sections of society.
