New Delhi, October 6: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal has sensed a "Centre's ploy" to raise power tariffs across the nation via amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003. Kejriwal on Saturday wrote to his non-BJP counterparts, seeking joint Opposition to stall the passage of the amendment Bill in the Parliament.

The proposed law, which the Centre expects to table in the Lok Sabha during the upcoming Winter Session, is aimed at increasing competition in the power sector by facilitating the smooth entry of private players. The amendments intend to allow the consumer to select from a range of power suppliers, rather than depending on the government or the select-few private suppliers. Arvind Kejriwal Demands to Reduce Excise Duty by Rs 10 Per Litre on Fuel.

According to Kejriwal, the Bill is unconstitutional as power sector is one of the subjects in the Concurrent List -- that can legislated on by both the states and the Centre. The amendments, he claimed, would give the Centre the dominating authority.

"It appears that the motive of the Central Government is to impose and hasten privatisation of electricity all over the country and to favour a few companies. By concentrating all powers with itself, the Centre will be able to do that," Kejriwal said in the letter written to non-BJP CMs.

Among the Chief Ministers, whom he has reached out include: Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu, Pinarayi Vijayan, H D Kumaraswamy, V Narayanasamy, Edappadi K Palaniswami, Lal Thanhawla, Amarinder Singh, K Chandrashekhar Rao, Naveen Patnaik and Pawan Chamling.

Kejriwal has appealed the above-mentioned leaders to allow him to meet them at the earliest for discussing the grounds on which the amendments could be opposed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2018 07:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).