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Updated: Sep 25, 2019 10:40 IST

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday paid an outstanding electricity bill of Rs 1.21 lakh of a rented accommodation in Vidisha, days after he had asked farmers not to pay their “inflated” power bills.

On Sunday, Chouhan in flood affected Neemuch and Mandsaur districts claimed that farmers were getting inflated power bills and notices for recovery of the dues. “Don’t pay the bills and treat those who reach their houses with bills, with brooms,” Chouhan had told farmers protesting the delay in payment of relief money for crop loss due to the floods.

On Monday, Congress MLA from Vidisha Shashank Bhargava claimed that Chouhan had not been paying the power bills of his rented house at Sherpura in Vidisha since 2013. The electricity connection of the house is the name of one Leela Bai.

Also read: Shivraj Chouhan clears power bills of Rs 1.21 lakh after Congress attack

Bhargava said, “The former CM has been living in the house for the past 25 years. He misused his position when he was chief minister and had uninterrupted power supply to his Vidisha office without paying the bills since 2013. If a consumer doesn’t pay his bill the power distribution company immediately issues a notice to him and disconnects the power supply on non-payment of the bill. But in this case the authorities shut their eyes for years. Hence, action should be taken against power distribution company authorities too.”

The Congress MLA also showed a notice issued to Leela Bai by Madhya Pradesh Central Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd, Vidisha city unit on September 13 in which she was asked to pay the bills amounting to Rs 1.21 lakh or face action from the company i.e. disconnection of power supply and realization of dues through legal proceedings.

Chouhan did not respond to phone calls and text messages but his associate, who was not willing to be identified, said the outstanding amount was paid on Monday itself immediately after the issue came to former CM’s notice.

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“The agreement of the house as a tenant is certainly in the name of the former CM but he has not been staying there for the past at least 14 years. Instead, he allowed certain local BJP leaders to use the premises as their office. It was these leaders’ fault that they didn’t clear the bills. When it came to the notice of the former CM he took these BJP leaders to task and immediately cleared the bills,” the associate said.

State BJP spokesperson, Rajneesh Agrawal, said, “It is known to all that the former CM lived in the CM house at Bhopal from 2005 to 2018. He hardly needed this house at Vidisha to use it as his office. When he came to know about the power bills he immediately cleared it. There was hardly any misuse of power on his part. Congress is unnecessarily making it an issue.”