Congress, BJP and other parties put up hoardings across suburbs urging Mumbaikars to junk RInfra and switch to 'cost-efficient' Tata Power
Congress, BJP and other parties put up hoardings across suburbs urging Mumbaikars to junk RInfra and switch to 'cost-efficient' Tata Power
In a rare show of bonhomie, political parties of all hues including archrivals BJP andu00a0 Congress have been asking the general public to unplug the Anil Ambani-owned RInfrau00a0 and switch to Tata Power, which they claim is cheaper and more consumer friendly.
The parties have put up hoardings exhorting people to give up RInfra connections in favour of Tata Power
If the BJP and the Congress have put up posters and banners in the Khar Danda area, asking people to switch to Tata Power, the Maharashtra Navnirman Mitra Mandal (a wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) has put up a banner showing the difference in tariff of both the companies at Poonam Nagar in Andheri (East).
Though both the parties have been repeatedly saying that they don't have any vested interest in the anti-RInfra campaign, BJP leader Ashish Shelar's door-to-door meeting with local residents seems to suggest otherwise.
If the BJP leader, with Tata Power officials in tow, is educating people about the benefits of switching to the utility, Congress MLA Baba Siddiqui's banner simply gives the low-down on the rates of the two utilities, leaving it to the consumers to decide whether to junk RInfra.
Shelar and Siddiqui claim that there are no vested interests, neither political nor personal, in their anti-Rinfra campaign. Shelar says, "RInfra rates are 40 per cent higher than the Tata utility. We had organised a meeting last week to inform people about it."
Siddiqui said, "We are not promoting any brand or company. We are just informing people about the tariffs of both the utilities and are leaving it to them to decide which utility is offering them a better deal."
But MNS' Manoj Jadhav had a clearer stand. "All our members working for the awareness drive have begun shifting to Tata Power already," he said.
Call it the effect of rigorous campaigning by the parties, most residents in the Khar Danda area have already begun contemplating the switchover.
Milind Mistry, a local resident, said, "We have been using RInfra for years. The main problem with the utility is that its bills are inflated. We get a bill of around Rs 1,500 every month even though we don't use any air-conditioner, computer or washing machine. Tata Power is cheaper so we are planning to switch."
His neighbour, Gangaram Teli agreed. "We would be shifting to Tata Power as it is cheaper," he said
Power cos respond
Tata Power officials denied getting help from any political party. A Tata Power spokesperson said, "Political parties maybe telling people to use our services because our rates are cheaper and it is easier to get the connection.
Tata Power is overwhelmed by the response from the consumers of Mumbai. It reiterates the trust in the company among the consumers whom we have served for almost a century now."
RInfra spokesperson, Vivek Tevesthali, refused to comment on political support to Tata Power.
"RInfra has a larger base of consumers (28 lakh users, of which residential users are 23 lakh using 300 units), while Tata has not reached residential areas and has only high-end consumers using more than 500 units.
That's why the rates of Tata are cheaper... Almost 175 consumers have switched back to RInfra from Tata for the basket of services we offer them."
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