Udupi: State government celebrating Tipu Jayanti may be right or wrong. But, when I was MLA and minister, God made me not to participate in Tipu Jayanti programme because Tipu had destroyed church," said Udupi district former in-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj.

A video clip of him speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of St. Peter's Church in Pethriya, near Brahammavara on December 10, has gone viral on social networking sites.

Pramod Madhwaraj was the legislator of Udupi constituency when the government started the celebration of Tippu Jayanti in 2015. Pramod was absent from Tippu Jayanti program that was organized by the district administration in Udupi Bannanje.

"When I was MLA and minister, our government had celebrated Tippu Jayanti. It may be right or wrong. But I did not get the opportunity to participate in that Tippu Jayanti celebration. It was God, who made me not to attend the programme because Tipu's army had destroyed this church," he said.

In 2016, when Pramod Madhwaraj was the district in-charge minister, Tipu Jayanti programme was organised at Lions Bhavan in Brahmmagiri, there also he remained absent. The public, then, had expressed displeasure over the minister when he missed the scheduled programme and had gone to Bengaluru for a day.

Similarly, in 2017, he had to inaugurate the Tipu Jayanti programme at Rajatadri in Manipal. But, there also he had given a miss.

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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.