BJP, Cong CMs chorus against free electricity

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy certainly would not have expected there won8217;t be many takers for his free power scheme for farmers in 8216;8216;absolute distress8221;. He argued that 8216;8216;compared to Europe, America and even Japan, subsidy in India is far less. If the farmer cannot make both ends meet, free power is a must8217;8217;. Former Orissa CM and veteran Congress leader J.B. Patnaik said: 8216;8216;What the farmer needs is marketability of goods at a remunerative price, not free power.8221;

Vasundhara, whose state has slipped down two notches in this year8217;s performance list to the 13th rank, best articulated the anti-free power stand. 8216;8216;It is time that the free power myth was busted. Assured quality power for eight hours is what the farmers need. You don8217;t have to take extreme the step, they are willing to pay if they get what they want,8217;8217; she said.

Claiming that the issue had a major role in deciding the verdict of the last Assembly elections in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Vasundhara said what she found was that the farmers tended to revolt against the government if, after having been promised free power, they ended up getting 8216;8216;no power or poor quality power8217;8217;.

The Rajasthan CM8217;s view was endorsed not only by her MP counterpart Uma Bharti, but also by Amarinder and Virbhadra. While Amarinder said, 8216;8216;even elections cannot be won by giving free power8217;8217;, Virbhadra admitted his government had been under pressure from farmers to subsidise power. 8216;8216;They get ideas from other states. But they are finally unviable for any state8217;s economy,8217;8217; Virbhadra said.

However, no clear picture emerged on the other issue of how to improve the states8217; delivery system, with every CM, including Sikkim8217;s Pawan Chamling, strongly opposing the idea of direct transfer of Central funds to panchayats.