Lucknow, June 16 (Reporter) Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is conspiring to hike the electricity tariffs which will create an additional burden on the consumers in the rural areas. In a statement issued here, Akhilesh said, "The Chief Minister's claim of 24-hour power supply in the scorching heat is hollow. The power and water crisis is deepening in the state. Even after this, the BJP government is hiking the electricity rates. There is a conspiracy to break the back of the people by making the electricity rates different for villages and cities." He said that with the implementation of the Electricity Consumer Act 2020 in the country, every consumer has become entitled to get 24-hour power supply. "In such a situation, how can the increase in the rates of rural and urban supply be as per the rules? Under the law, the CM has the right to announce the change from rural feeder to urban feeder. Has the Power Corporation also acquired the right of the Chief Minister?," he said. The SP chief said that as part of a conspiracy to increase the cost of electricity supplied to rural areas of the state, by converting rural feeders into urban feeders, consumers will get electricity costlier by Rs 2 per unit." This decision will affect about 2.85 crore consumers. In rural areas, domestic consumers will be required to pay at the rate of Rs 3.35 per unit for electricity, while in urban areas, the price is Rs 5.50 per unit. This is a fraud with the public," he alleged. He said that the truth is that the BJP has no sympathy for the poor and the villagers. "It is the well-wisher of the capital houses. Its policies make the rich class richer and the poor poorer. BJP has made the life of the common man difficult. People have found it difficult to live in the scorching heat," he said...////...