Bihar polls: Prashant Kishor backs rebel BJP candidate in Gopalganj
Gopalganj, Oct 24 (PTI): Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday announced his support for rebel BJP candidate Anup Kumar Srivastava in Bihar's Gopalganj, alleging that his own nominee Shashi Shekhar Sinha withdrew from the contest under pressure from the saffron party.
Kishor made the announcement at a press conference in Gopalganj, making it clear that the case of Srivastava was an "exception" to the rule followed by his one-year-old party, which did not give tickets to disgruntled elements from other parties who joined the Jan Suraaj Party just ahead of elections.
"Srivastava, who is a well-known social worker in Gopalganj, has also served as the district BJP president. He alleges that the party overlooked his claim to field a person with deep pockets", Kishor said.
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"So, in this constituency, both he and Jan Suraaj Party are victims of BJP's injustice. Sinha withdrew from the contest, citing old age and ill health. He seems to have realised after campaigning for a few days that at 76 years, he did not have the energy to contest an election. I have learnt from credible sources that he withdrew under pressure from the BJP", Kishor alleged.
Notably, the Jan Suraaj Party had recently submitted a representation before the Election Commission, accusing the BJP of putting pressure on its candidates to withdraw from elections.
Kishor has also been displaying photographs of the party's Danapur candidate Mutru Sah with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Brahmapur nominee Satya Prakash Tiwari with BJP's in-charge for the ongoing elections, Dharmendra Pradhan, to allege that top leadership was involved in the poaching of his candidates.
Kishor acknowledged that with the nomination process over, “we cannot allot the Jan Suraaj Party symbol to Srivastava. But, henceforth, he shall be part of the Jan Suraaj family, and our full support will be to him, despite his being an Independent candidate. We want to give the BJP a taste of its own medicine."
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
