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Congress, BJP, SAD always used Dalits, poor as vote bank: Maan
Says Punjab government is running away from paying arrears to 4.37 lakh Dalit consumers who are getting 200 units of free electricity
Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday accused the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP of always using the Dalits and the poor as a vote bank.
In a press statement, Mann said ₹137.56 crore of outstanding amount up to 2016 was being collected 4.37 lakh Dalit consumers who are getting 200 units of free electricity.
“The Congress government is running away from paying these arrears. It should immediately reverse this anti-Dalit and anti-poor move. Also, the previous SAD-BJP government had started the 200-unit free power scheme to garner votes from the Dalits and underprivileged sections but made no provision to keep the scheme going in the long run,” he added.
He also sought clarification from SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on this issue as he was now making false promises of giving free power up to 400 units.
The AAP leader alleged that earlier the Badal family looted the state in the name of providing free electricity to the Dalits and the poor and now the Amarinder-led government was cheating them in the name of this scheme.
