MVA govt has realised it can't waive power bills: Fadnavis

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday attacked the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, saying it has now realised that it cannot fulfil the promise of waiving power bills.

His statement comes days after state Energy Minister Nitin Raut said that the government will not be able to provide any relaxation in the inflated electricity bills that consumers received and that they will have to make full payment of the bills.

Earlier this month, Raut had hinted at a major relief to the consumers facing the issue of inflated power bills, saying that a Diwali gift was in the offing.

Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis said, "Earlier, they said that power bills will be waived. But now they realised thatit is not possible." The former Maharashtra chief minister asserted that all the three state-run power companies performed in an excellent manner during the previous BJP government led by him, when Chandrashekhar Bawankule was the energy minister.

"We purchased power at a very cheap rate...We gave concession to the poor and farmers during our rule. If you (the government) have the courage, you also do it," the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly said.

Minister Raut had on Thursday said that the state power firms were making huge losses, and it was a "mess" created by the previous BJP regime.