Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said that the government’s move to hike electricity price will not affect the general consumers.

“To reduce the subsidy in power sector, the power price has slightly been increased at the level of bulk power customers,” he said in a statement on Friday (March 1).

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said, “The power generation capacity has now increased to 29,700 megawatts, thanks to the timely action of the successful statesman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”

At present, cent percent people of the country are getting electricity facilities, he said, adding that the BNP leaders are lying about the increase in electricity prices.

During its 1996-2001 period, he said, the Awami League government increased the power generation to 4,200 megawatts.

Quader alleged that the BNP could not increase generation of one megawatt of power but it hiked the price of electricity nine times in five years during its regime.

During the BNP’s reign, there was load-shedding for 18 hours a day, while farmers protesting for electricity were shot dead, he said.

He said the BNP made mockery with the country’s people by installing only poles instead of giving electricity.

The World Bank had canceled financing in the power sector due to the corruption of BNP-Jamaat government, the road transport minister said.

Quader also alleged that BNP leaders are going to their foreign masters after they were repeatedly rejected by the country’s people.

“They (BNP leaders) are doing politics thinking of the foreign ambassadors as their gods,” he said.