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‘I am all for subsidy for poor,’ says Delhi LG; slams AAP for libellous claims
Since March, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the LG office have sparred over power subsidies
Lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Monday accused chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers of making “blatantly false” and “libellous” allegations over his role in power subsidies in the Capital, adding that he will seek legal redressal if the CM does not provide evidence to support his remarks.
The LG also noted that he is committed to providing the subsidies.
Since March, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the LG office have sparred over power subsidies, with AAP AAP leaders alleging “a conspiracy” to discontinue the free electricity scheme — an accusation the LG’s office has dismissed as misleading and false.
Earlier this month, on April 4, the cabinet approved the extension of the power subsidy scheme, which entails free electricity up to 200 units to all domestic consumers, while those who use 201-400 units receive a 50% subsidy.
On April 14, the LG cleared the extension of the power subsidy — which was to end on April 15 — by a year and sent the file to Kejriwal. Officials in the LG office said this was done before a press conference held by Atishi, who claimed there would be no extension of the subsidy because the LG had not cleared the file. The AAP government subsequently claimed that the subsidy was cleared by the LG after the press conference. The LG’s office also said it had received the file only on April 11.
On Monday, Saxena in a letter to Kejriwal said, “I write to you seeking accountability and responsibility with regards to unsubstantiated and false statements made by you and your colleagues in the Government and Party, against me. For the past few weeks, the power minister (Atishi), health minister (Saurabh Bharadwaj), and you yourself have been making blatantly false, misleading, accusatory, libellous and defamatory statements in the media and elsewhere to the effect that the ‘subsidy given in the power sector is being stopped by the LG/ and that LG is conspiring with the officers to stop power subsidy.”
Clarifying that he has been committed to power subsidy to the poor, he said, “You are well aware that I have always been committed to power subsidy to the poor and have made the same amply clear in public domain, as indeed in writing on different files on different occasions.”
The AAP, however, dismissed the LG’s accusations as false.
Pointing to at least eight instances when Kejriwal and Atishi alleged that the LG was conspiring to stop the power subsidy, Saxena wrote, “The above-mentioned omissions and commissions on your part have obviously been deliberate and with an aim to create an imaginary bogey to mislead the people for partisan gains. In light of the above, you are requested to furnish any paper or communication that establishes that the LG wants power subsidy to be stopped or is conspiring with officers or a political party to stop power subsidy, as is being openly alleged by your ministers and colleagues in the party.”
The LG said that a failure to furnish the information may lead to him seeking legal redressal. “It is expected that the information sought above will be furnished to me at the earliest, failing which it would be assumed that you and your colleagues are deliberately misleading the people of Delhi and playing petty political games, which deserve unequivocal condemnation and legal redressal.”