CHENNAI: PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday strongly condemned the State government's midnight revision of electricity tariffs, describing it as a severe blow to poor and middle-class families and small and medium-scale industries.

In a statement, Anbumani criticised the ruling DMK for secretly announcing a 3.16% hike in electricity charges late on Monday, despite having assured the public till evening that no such increase was on the cards.

"The government's midnight move reeks of betrayal. This tariff hike, amounting to nearly Rs 3,500 crore, will significantly burden domestic, commercial, and industrial consumers. The government's claim that it would bear Rs 374 crore of the domestic tariff increase and thereby shield the people is nothing short of a farce," he said.

PMK leader pointed out that the State had already raised domestic tariffs by 4.83% last year and suggested that the DMK government was holding back on further hikes ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

"Saying that there is no impact on the public because the government is bearing the hike for domestic users is an absurd argument. When tariffs for commercial establishments, shops, and industries go up, the resulting increase in the prices of essential goods will ultimately be borne by the common people," he added.

He further noted that industries had already been subjected to three successive hikes in the past, leading to an unsustainable increase in operating costs.

"Several micro, small, and medium enterprises have already shut down, unable to afford soaring electricity bills. They have been demanding a rollback of the previous hikes, but instead, the government has chosen to increase tariffs again, showing no empathy for their plight," he said.

Anbumani urged the State government to immediately withdraw the hike, warning that failure to do so would invite an intense backlash in the coming elections. "People will not forget it (increasing power tariff burden) and will teach the DMK a lesson," he said.