Ponda: A day after Power Minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar allegedly refused to meet an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delegation seeking relief from soaring electricity bills, party leaders on Sunday confronted the Minister in Ponda and staged a black flag protest demanding the cancellation of inflated power bills.
Led by AAP senior vice president Sandesh Teleikar-Dessai, Ponda president Geetesh Naik, mahila wing president Mamata Maben, Neash Coutinho and party volunteers, the protesters raised slogans against the minister and accused the government of failing to address public grievances over excessive electricity charges.
The party demanded the complete withdrawal of inflated electricity bills and penalty charges. It also sought an apology from Dhavalikar for his controversial ‘nakchepay’ remark.
“The people of Goa were not interested in assurances. They want an official government order cancelling the disputed bills,” said Teleikar-Dessai, alleging that that the BJP-led government was delaying action on the issue.
Naik said that if the file concerning the electricity bill dispute had been submitted to the Chief Minister’s Office in February, as claimed by Dhavalikar, there was no justification for the continued delay in resolving the issue.
He also accused the minister of making contradictory statements regarding refunds and instalment payments.
Maben alleged even leaders within the ruling party had raised the issue of the high electricity bills.
AAP leaders stated that the agitation would continue across Goa until all inflated bills are scrapped, penalty charges withdrawn and accountability fixed for the “power billing crisis.”
