NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Tuesday refuted media reports that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's electricity bills for three months amounted to Rs.1 lakh while his Aam Aadmi Party termed the clubbing of its residence and office bills "pure slander".
"It is hereby clarified that 6, Flag Staff Road, Civil Lines, Delhi, was allotted as residence for the chief minister on February 28, 2015. A portion of the premises was allocated as the private residence of the chief minister and separate electricity connection was installed for the same," said a Delhi government statement.
It said the electricity bill for the portion of the premises which Kejriwal shifted into in March this year was Rs.17,000 for March, Rs.7,370 for April and Rs.22,690 for May.
"It may be seen that the monthly electricity expenditure on the residence of the chief minister is to the tune of approximately Rs.15,000 per month and nowhere close to the figure being reported in the media," the statement added.
It also noted that the general administration department created some facilities for the "Janta Samvad, office work and other peripheral activities relating to function of chief minister's office in the same premises" and a separate electricity connection was installed for this portion.
The bills for this connection were reported as Rs.15,175 for March and Rs.48,430 for April.
Reacting to the reports, AAP's national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon tweeted: "Clubbing the residence and office bills is pure slander. CM's residence has a separate meter with an average bill of Rs.15,000."
On June 16, advocate and Right to Information (RTI) activist Vivek Garg had filed an RTI plea seeking to know details regarding electricity bills of the Delhi chief minister.
"The AAP government has been misusing electricity -- that is the reason I had filed an RTI. The statements that AAP has given about their electricity consumption is just to mislead people," Garg told IANS.
He said the RTI enquiry revealed that the electricity bills of the chief minister's residence, from two electricity connections, were Rs.48,630 and Rs.7,370 for May and Rs.35,570 and Rs.30,210 for April.
"There are two meters at Kejriwal's residence -- of 34 and 22 kilo watt. Even if the 22 KW meter was for Kejriwal's personal residence, it means a load of 8-10 air conditioners are continuously working along with other appliances, which is again a misuse of electricity," he contended.