The clarification came a day after Ranaut, while addressing a public gathering in Mandi district, alleged receiving an inflated electricity bill of nearly ₹1 lakh for her Manali residence, where she claimed she currently does not live. She also criticised the state government calling it a “pack of wolves”.
Responding to her remarks, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, currently in Gujarat, said, “I don’t take her statements seriously. She frequently makes such comments.”
HPSEBL managing director Sandeep Kumar said that the bill of ₹90,384, issued on March 22, 2025, included unpaid dues of ₹32,287 and covered electricity consumption for January and February 2025. The domestic connection is registered in Ranaut’s name and is located at her Simsa village property in Manali.
Kumar further said that the connected load at her property is 94.82 kW—about 1,500% higher than the average household. Previous bills totaling ₹82,061 for October to December 2024 were paid late on January 16, 2025, while the January–February bill was cleared on March 28, 2025.
Naresh Chauhan, principal media adviser to the CM, said, “Her comments are an attempt to divert attention from her failures as an MP. No extra charges were levied; her claims are baseless and headline-driven.”
Several calls made to contact Ranaut’s team went unanswered.
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