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SAD slams Kejriwal, say poor will lose out on 200 units free power
After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal promised free power in Punjab if his party wins the state polls, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said on Tuesday that far from giving any relief to the common man through subsidised power, the AAP would even do away with 200 units per month free power provided to the poor, including Dalits and backward classes, by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal
After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal promised free power in Punjab if his party wins the state polls, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said on Tuesday that far from giving any relief to the common man through subsidised power, the AAP would even do away with 200 units per month free power provided to the poor, including Dalits and backward classes, by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Addressing a press conference, SAD senior leaders Bikram Singh Majithia and Daljit Singh Cheema said the Delhi chief minister had admitted that the party’s promise of 300 units per billing cycle free power facility will only be applicable in case the consumption is less than 300 units. “This amounts to a cruel joke on Punjabis as a majority of them will not be eligible for any benefit. Instead, the poor and disadvantaged will lose out on the 200 units free power facility, which is applicable without any conditions,” they claimed.
Accusing Kejriwal of trying to introduce a flop model that had already failed in Delhi, Majithia also presented power bills of Delhi consumers, which showed that they were charged ₹5.30 per unit for bills slightly above 200 units and not extended any benefit of subsidised power.
The SAD leaders also castigated the Delhi CM for trying to lie his way out of the press conference by stating that farmers in Delhi were “probably” given free power when this was clearly not the case as they were charged astronomical fixed charges.
“Similarly power tariff of shops and the domestic sector in Delhi, which constitutes the lion’s share of consumers, is extremely high, they said.
Majithia said that the AAP leader was tom-tomming about ₹6,500 crore subsidised power facility extended in Delhi in six year forgetting that the free power facility extended to farmers in Punjab by Parkash Singh Badal had given them a benefit of ₹90,000 crore.
