Mani's son Jose to contest Rajya Sabha polls
Pala, June 8: After getting a windfall in the form of a Rajya Sabha seat, Kerala Congress-Mani on Friday night named party supremo K.M. Mani's son Jose K. Mani, the sitting Kottayam Lok Sabha member, as its candidate.
"Our party leadership that met here on Friday night has decided to nominate Jose K.Mani to the Rajya Sabha. The party felt that he was the most suitable candidate and hence his name was an unanimous choice," P.J. Joseph, the KC-M's second in command told the media after the meeting.
KC-M, after being an ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for over four decades, in 2016 walked out of the grouping but returned on Friday, after the top state Congress leadership with the concurrence of the party high command, decided to hand the Rajya Sabha seat to Mani's party, as a "gift" for his return.
The Congress decided to sacrifice sitting Rajya Sabha member and former Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien, who was expecting to get a fourth successive term.
While earlier in the day, Mani ruled himself out for the seat, he also said that his "wish" is that his son Jose also does not get nominated.
But after a late night meeting of the top KC-M leadership at Mani's residence near here, the decision was made to field Jose for the Rajya Sabha seat.
Of the three seats that fall vacant later this month, the ruling Left alliance will win two and the Congress-led UDF one.
Jose is a two-time Lok Sabha member, though losing in his debut electoral contest in 2004.
Long time foe of Mani, veteran legislator P.C. George said this is the most shameful episode witnessed in Kerala politics as everyone knows that Jose stands no chance of winning his sitting Lok Sabha seat next year and hence Mani felt that the Rajya Sabha would be the best bet for his son.
"Since the law allows six months time for an elected member to take oath, Jose will wait for that time and after that, there will not be any time for conducting a by-election to the Kottayam seat that he vacates," he claimed.
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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.
