Gujarat: Power sops, coincidence or calculated steps ahead of Jasdan by-polls

The BJP government in Gujarat on Tuesday announced waiver of dues in electricity bills for all of those consumers whose power connections were cut following a default in bill payment. The announcement comes two days ahead of the by-polls in the Jasdan assembly seat.

Energy Minister, Saurabh Patel said, "This scheme was being considered by the government for a long time and the announcement has been made after it received approval from the Chief Minister. It has nothing to do with the by-polls as the scheme is an inclusive one and is not limited to voters. It will extend benefits to all poor people in Gujarat who do not have power connections."

"The 90 per cent beneficiaries under this scheme are poor families in Gujarat while ten per cent are marginal farmers. This is not an attempt to please voters at all," Patel said.

Surprisingly, the maximum beneficiaries are falling in the same region where Jasdan falls , that is Saurashtra. The Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) is the distribution company which supplies power in the Saurashtra region and 2.12 lakh consumers in the region will benefit out of a total 6.39 lakh consumers who would benefit out of this scheme. That means almost 1/3 beneficiaries are from Saurashtra region.

Besides this, the amnesty scheme implemented by the Gujarat government just four month ago has also got a good response. The scheme is about waiver of penalty over power bill dues and revival of connection. The distribution companies collected Rs 57.54 crore from 1.44 lakh defaulters out of total nine lakh.

Sources from the government said, "There was a political pressure on the government over Jasdan bypolls and that aggravated after the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government announced farm loan waiver after oath taking. The Chief Minister had directed senior office bearers and officials in the government to mull the actions that can be a breather for ruling party BJP ahead of by polls."

"Deputy CM Nitin Patel and chief principal secretary to CM K Kailashnathan had held a long meeting on Monday evening to discuss this and it was finally decided to waive the power dues," sources said.

A senior government functionary said on the condition of anonymity, "This announcement can help BJP in Jasdan polls and it is calculated step by government."

The chief electoral officer in Gujarat Dr S Murali Krishna has taken suo motu cognizance of this announcement and has sought explanation from energy and petrochemical department on move.