NEW DELHI: THE announcement of free electricity for households consuming less than 200 units, barely a few months leading up to the next Assembly elections, put the Kejriwal government in the line of Opposition fire.
Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) regime, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress alleged that the power sop was nothing but a ploy by the CM to hide or divert public attention from his government’s failures.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, BJP’s Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari said that the CM was misleading the people of Delhi. He said the government must refund Rs 8,500 crore levied from power consumers as fixed charge and load charge.
Former Delhi power minister and working president of Delhi Congress Haroon Yusuf also raised the same demand.
“If the Delhi government does not refund the money looted from consumers, the BJP will launch a movement against it,” Tiwari said.
Sudha Pai, professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said it is to be seen if the move is economically viable. “Residents of unauthorised colonies and slums would be benefited. It would also reduce power theft,” she said.