New Delhi | AAP on Friday alleged the BJP will try to increase power tariff in Delhi through the Lt Governor and urged people to choose Arvind Kejriwal to prevent the situation.
Addressing a press conference, chief minister-designate Atishi alleged that the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government's electricity model was the "costliest with long outages" and said choosing Kejriwal as chief minister would prevent them from the same fate.
"What we are seeing in Uttar Pradesh, we might have to see in Delhi if you do not choose Kejriwal. This is important as only he can give free electricity 24x7. I will protect the people of Delhi during the next four months as the BJP might try to increase power tariffs in the national capital," she said at a press conference.
Hitting back, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said when they come to power in February, they will investigate the "joint loot of the Kejriwal government and private power discoms under the guise of electricity surcharges and will ensure a refund as possible.
"The BJP will extend the benefit of the 200-unit electricity subsidy to the middle class and work on reducing electricity bills for commercial establishments," he added.
Atishi also claimed the UP government had increased electricity connection rates by 250 per cent.
"For getting a 1 kilowatt electricity connection, people (in UP) will have to pay Rs 3,000 against the earlier Rs 1,200 while the cost of getting a 5-kilowatt connection has been hiked by 118 per cent," she claimed.
Hitting out at the BJP government in UP, she said there were long power cuts during the summer months in Noida, Ghaziabad and Sahibabad while there were no outages in Delhi.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to increase the electricity prices in Delhi," pointed out the senior AAP leader, in a fiery address, just like the increase in the price of electricity connection in the BJP-ruled UP.
She mentioned that the electricity model of Kejriwal and the AAP government of Delhi is 24x7 electricity and the cheapest electricity. This year, on June 19, the peak demand of 8,400 MW was met in Delhi without any load shedding, she claimed.
"The AAP government in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal government not only provides 24x7 electricity but also provides the cheapest electricity. There are 37 lakh families in Delhi whose electricity bill is zero. The bills of 15 lakh families who use between 200 to 400 units of electricity are half," she added.
Sharing the data of electricity bill rates of more than 400 units in Delhi and BJP-ruled states across the country, Atishi stated that the bill for 400 units of electricity in Delhi is Rs 980. In Gujarat, Ahmedabad, the bill for 400 units comes to Rs 2,044.
In Gurugram, Haryana, the bill for 400 units comes to Rs 2,300. In UP, it comes to Rs 2,900, in Madhya Pradesh it comes to Rs 3,800 and in Maharashtra, it comes to Rs 4,460.
"In many states where the BJP is in power, the bill for 400 units of electricity is four times more than in Delhi. That means long power cuts and the most expensive electricity is the BJP model," said the Delhi government minister.
Atishi said, "Today I want to tell all the people of Delhi that when the elections come in February, the people of Delhi have to come together and make Arvind Kejriwal their chief minister again, only then Delhi will get 24x7 and the cheapest electricity.
"In the coming four months, as long as I have the responsibility of being the chief minister of Delhi, I will also try my best to protect the people of Delhi because I know that in the coming time, BJP will hatch some conspiracy to make electricity expensive in Delhi through its LG.
"I promise on behalf of the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal that we will not let the price of electricity increase in Delhi," she added.
Echoing similar views, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey alleged the BJP dances to the tunes of electricity companies and does not care about the common man.
"The BJP has tried earlier also and will not hesitate to make similar attempts to hike power tariff. But I want to tell them that we have foiled your earlier attempts and will do so in the future also," he added.
