Prashant Kishor alleges 3 candidates of his party withdrew from Bihar polls under BJP's 'pressure'
Patna(PTI): Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday alleged that three candidates of his Jan Suraaj Party in the Bihar elections withdrew their nominations under "pressure" from the BJP.
Addressing a press conference, Kishor alleged that the ruling NDA was so scared of losing the elections that it was threatening opposition candidates to withdraw from the race.
"Democracy is being murdered. There has been no such precedent in the country," he alleged, urging the Election Commission to ensure the security of the candidates.
The candidates who withdrew from the race were fielded in the Danapur, Brahampur, and Gopalganj seats, he said.
"The BJP is trying to replicate the Surat model, in which their candidate got elected unopposed, as all other nominees were coerced to pull out. The BJP does not realise that voters had punished it across the country for it, and it won just 240 seats, though it had bragged that the tally would be 400-plus in last year's Lok Sabha polls," he added.
Kishor's party had announced candidates for all 243 seats in Bihar. With the withdrawal of three candidates from the race, it will now fight on 240 seats as the last date for filing of nominations has already passed.
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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.
