The opening day of the winter session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Thursday saw the opposition parties staging a strong protest against the recent power tariff hike by the state government. The opposition termed the hike as anti-people and anti-farmer.

As soon as the House assembled the leader of Opposition, Ram Govind Chaudhary draw the attention of the chair towards the huge increase in the power tariff.  He said the farmers and the poor people in the state will be hugely impacted by this massive increase in the rates of electricity. He was joined on the issue by the Samajwadi  Party legislators who trooped into the well of the House holding placards which said ‘Bijli daro ki badhoti wapas lo” (roll back the power tariff hike), “Lathi goli ki ye sarkar nahi chalegi” (dictatorial government will not work).

Within minutes the SP MLAs were joined by the Congress legislators in the well, while the Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs chose to show their protest by standing near their seats.

Speaker of the House Hriday Narain Dixit had to adjourn the House several times following the ruckus created by Opposition MLAs.

When the House reassembled again the protest and sloganeering by the SP and Congress legislators continued in the well of the House. The BSP MLAs, however, staged a walk out.

They later again made their way into the House. BSP legislature party leader Lalji Verma was assured by the chair of a two hour discussion on the issue.

Parliamentary Affairs minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said the increase in the power tariff was decided by the Uttar Pradesh  Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) and not by the state government.

He said unlike the previous dispensation the present government was doing its best to provide electricity to the consumers in addition to subsidy to those of the rural sectors. He said an 18-hour power supply was being given to the rural areas while the tehsil headquarters were being given a 20-hour power supply.  The cities were being provided with 23 hour electricity supply. In addition 8,000 transformers had been repaired, the minister added.

With the pandemonium refusing to cease, the Speaker adjourned the House till Friday.  The short winter session of the state Assembly is scheduled to end on 22 December. The Supplementary Budget for the fiscal year will be presented on 18 December.

The UP Control of Organised Crime, Bill, 2017, which was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday is expected to be tabled in the ongoing session.