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BJP, Shiv Sena trade barbs against each other over power bills, fuel price rise
Sena leaders led the protests at Dadar, Byculla, Goregaon, Thane and Mira-Bhayander areas against the “loot of common man” by the Union government
Former allies, Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), staged protests against each other’s governments in the state and Centre. While BJP leaders took to the streets to protest against the inflated power bills issued by the state power distribution company, the Sena staged protests against the Centre over the hike in fuel and cooking gas prices.
After backing the farmers’ stir in Delhi earlier this week, the Sena has now decided to take up issues that touch the lives of its core constituency: the middle-class.
Sena leaders led the protests at Dadar, Byculla, Goregaon, Thane and Mira-Bhayander areas against the “loot of common man” by the Union government. Party legislators also staged protests and bullock-cart and cycle rallies in Pune, Aurangabad and Nashik districts. Protesters in Mumbai and other cities raised slogans against the Narendra Modi-government.
At Mira-Bhayander, Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik led the protests, while legislators Sunil Prabhu and Ravindra Waikar were in the forefront of the agitation at Goregaon and Jogeshwari.
Sena vibhag pramukh (division head) Ashish Chemburkar, who was leading protest at Byculla, said the fuel prices have been hiked since the lockdown was lifted, and soon, the petrol prices will reach Rs100 per litre.
“The Centre has been looting the citizens for months by increasing the fuel prices and LPG cylinder prices. This has to stop. Sena will intensify protests if the Centre does not arrest the price rise,” Chemburkar said.
Responding to former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s attack on the state government to reduce its share of tax on fuel, Chemburkar said, “The price of petrol would be Rs92 [per litre] after reducing the state tax. Do the ones who seek the state’s tax believe that the price of fuel at Rs92 is less?”
Ambadas Danve, Sena Member of the Legislative Council and party district chief of Aurangabad said the fuel price rise over the past few months have been “crushing” the common citizens. “Households are bearing the brunt of cylinder price rise. Cylinders that used to cost Rs300-400 some years earlier now cost double. The Centre has launched many schemes but they have not reached the common citizens,” he said.
Former parliamentarian Chandrakant Khaire cited “corruption at the highest levels” as the reason behind the fuel price rise.
“I have been on the committees in the Centre. I know how things work. The crude oil prices are at an all-time low, and yet, fuel [petrol] is Rs94 [per litre].”
Meanwhile, BJP staged protests outside the regional offices of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to oppose the disconnection of power over pending bills. The party has accused the state-owned firm of having sent inflated bills to consumers during the Covid-19 lockdown last year.
In Nagpur, former state energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule led the protest march, while at Nashik, it was headed by legislator Devyani Farande. In Kolhapur, clashes broke out between BJP workers and the police as the protestors tried to lock the regional office of MSEDCL as part of their ‘Tala Thoko’ protest.
At Mumbai, legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar led a protest march outside Adani Power’s Kandivli office over the inflated bills’ issue. Party’s former MP Kirit Somaiya and other workers were arrested by police after they tried to lock MSEDCL office at Bhandup.
“The Thackeray government had announced to waive off the inflated bills issued during lockdown. The government did not keep its word, and has on the contrary has sent notices to 7.5 million consumers warning the disconnection of the supply for non-payments. Most of the bills are inflated and fake. The citizens are not in a position of paying these bills owing to the job and income loss during the Covid-19 pandemic. The state government has been ruthlessly taking action against the citizens. We will continue our protest until the bills are waived off,” said Bawankule.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai unit and BJP’s minority cell also staged a protest outside the party’s Nariman Point office, demanding the immediate arrest Sharjeel Usmani for his alleged provocative speech at the Elgaar Parishad conclave last week.
