Stressed Keralites To Observe #LightsOffKerala At 9 PM Tomorrow To Protest Electricity Tariff Hike

This comes after several people complained of getting electricity bills that are three to four times higher than what they usually get.

Representational Image: PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress unit in Kerala has organised a 'Lights Off Kerala' protest at about 9 PM on June 17 for three minutes in order to mark a silent protest against the unprecedented 'hike' in the electricity tariff by the Pinarayi Vijayan government.

 The opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala reportedly complained that the government’s move amounts to emptying people's pocket. For the same, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has urged the people in the state to switch off the power for three minutes at 9 pm on Wednesday.

"As a responsible opposition, we don’t want to endanger the lives of people by organising huge protests in the time of pandemic. But we can’t allow the government to get away with its anti-people decisions either. Switching off lights for three minutes on June 17 at 9 pm gives an opportunity for them to register their protest," the Congress leader said, as quoted in a Hindustan Times report. Later, taking to the micro-blogging site, taking, Chennithala tweeted: Despite protests happening all over Kerala, the state government has not taken any steps to address the issue of inflated power bills. Let's raise our voice against this. Join the #LightsOffKerala protest at 9pm tomorrow (June 17) and switch off lights across Kerala for 3 minutes.

Despite protests happening all over Kerala, the state government has not taken any steps to address the issue of inflated power bills. Let's raise our voice against this. Join the #LightsOffKerala protest at 9pm tomorrow (June 17) and switch off lights across Kerala for 3 minutes pic.twitter.com/Ml88TMTZf4

— Ramesh Chennithala (@chennithala) June 16, 2020

Meanwhile, the opposition has also planned  on launching an online platform for the general punlic where they can register their complains and even log on to register their protest. "This will be there till the government withdraws the excess charges," the leader said.

This comes after several people complained of getting electricity bills that are three to four times higher than what they usually get. The Keralites have been complaining that increased bills have let to an extra financial burden on them.

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