Maha minister Raut says BJP's power bill stir a flop

Maharashtra Energy Minister NitinRaut on Friday said the BJP's 'halla bol' agitation over powerbills got a lukewarm response from the public as some 79 percent of consumers in the state have already paid up.

Addressing a press conference here, Raut said the BJPshould carry out agitations against the continuous hikes infuel prices rather than mislead people about power bills.

''The people of Maharashtra have come forward and sofar cleared 79 per cent of pending power bills, which was morethan 71,000 crore till December last year,'' Raut informed.

He alleged the BJP intends to privatise Mahavitaran,the distribution arm of the Maharashtra State ElectricityBoard, and that is why it had started protests claiming thebills sent to consumers were inflated.

Raut said Mahavitaran had supplied electricityuninterrupted in the state during the coronavirus outbreak andappealed to people to pay their bills in time.

The BJP's 'halla bol' agitation on Friday was led byformer state energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule inNagpur.