Eyeing '24 Haryana polls, Kejri promises free power

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, July 9

After Delhi and Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party today pitched for electricity as a major election issue for the next year’s Assembly elections in Haryana with its national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announcing 24X7 and free power supply if the party was voted to power.

Launching the “bijli andolan” of AAP at Panchkula here, Kejriwal asserted the AAP had contested the first Delhi Assembly elections as well as the 2022 Punjab polls on the issue of electricity. “Power crisis in Haryana will be the main election issue in the 2024 Assembly elections,” he said.

Striking an emotional chord with the local population, Kejriwal, who traces his roots to Haryana, said it pained him to see a large number of people from the state coming to him complaining about long unscheduled power cuts and high tariff under the Khattar government. “The only remedy from long power cuts and high tariff is to vote for the AAP, which is committed to free and 24X7 power supply in Haryana,” the Delhi Chief Minister asserted. Drawing parallels between the power scenario in Haryana vis-à-vis neighbouring AAP-ruled Punjab and Delhi, Kejriwal claimed while Haryana residents had been shelling out Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,300 for 200 units, in Delhi there was zero charge for the same. Similarly, in Punjab, there were no charges for 300 units, while in Haryana, residents had to pay Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 for the same number units, he said.

Kejriwal highlighted how the Khattar Government allowed a big corporate house, with whom it had entered into a 25-year power purchased agreement, to hike power charges after a few years. Claiming nearly 90 per cent of power consumers were getting zero bills in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asked Haryana voters to replicate the Delhi and Punjab model in their state.

Mann, while alleging Haryana residents faced six to eight hours of frequent power cuts, condemned the Khattar government for sending a bill of Rs 1.40 lakh to a widow, who earlier narrated her tale of woes before AAP leaders.

AAP state president Sushil Gupta and senior leaders Ashok Tanwar and Chitra Sarwara were prominent speakers. Incidentally, as AAP leaders trained guns on the Khattar government over erratic power supply in the state, Indradhanush Auditorium, the venue of the function, remained ‘powerless’ during the event.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, while claiming there was no power problem in the state, criticised AAP’s attempts to create an issue which did not exist.

Replicate Delhi, Punjab model: Mann

• Punjab CM Mann asks voters to replicate Delhi, Punjab model
• Slams Khattar govt for unscheduled outages, high tariff in state
• Khattar, however, says AAP is creating issue that doesn’t exist