RJD state president Ram Chandra Purbey addresses the news meet in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Nov. 16: The RJD today came down heavily on chief minister Nitish Kumar for the introduction of 10 per cent premium on electricity bills to provide round-the-clock supply to Patna, Rajgir and Bodhgaya from December 1.

Addressing the media at the party office here, RJD state president Ram Chandra Purbey demanded withdrawal of the hike.

“Chief minister Nitish Kumar has become a dictator and wants to implement his barbaric policies on the poor people of Bihar. Frequent hikes in fuel surcharge have already upset the common man’s budget. Moreover, the state government has increased the tariff on electricity. It shows that Nitish wants to suck the blood of our people, who are already in trouble because of inflation and price rise,” Purbey said.

The RJD state president added: “By 2012-13, the state government plans to increase the power tariff by 35 to 45 per cent. This means per unit of electricity will cost Rs 10. There is a possibility that the Nitish government may implement it by April next year. It is very disappointing that the chief minister has washed his hands of the issue and said the state government does not intervene in the matter of Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Berc).”

“Everyone knows that Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) and Berc are formed by the government itself. Then how do the commission and the board become superior than the government? It is a completely baseless comment by the chief minister. It seems that he does not want to the people of the state to live in peace,” Purbey said.

He added: “The present situation of electricity supply in Patna is pathetic, which proves that the government can never supply 24-hour electricity. The energy department lacks maintenance equipment, the electric wires are in bad shape and the transformer is in a pathetic condition. The party strongly demands an immediate rollback in the decision. Else, we will launch intensive protests against the government.”

Hitting back at the RJD, energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav told them not to panic. “It seems that those in the Opposition are not educated. They must realise that the government has nothing to do with the regulatory commission. Till 2004, the cabinet used to decide on the issue of power tariff. Thereafter, it has gone out of the government’s hands,” he said.