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To woo UP voters, AAP promises 24X7 power supply, 300 free units
Delhi deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia promised to waive off pending electricity dues of 48 lakh families which got inflated bills and free electricity for farmers in Uttar Pradesh.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, on Thursday, promised to provide “300 units of free electricity, waive pending power bills and ensure 24-hour power supply” in Uttar Pradesh, if his party is voted to power in the assembly elections due early next year.
“The AAP will provide every family 300 units of free electricity if the party is voted to power in Uttar Pradesh. Under chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, people in Delhi are getting zero electricity bills. We will do the same in UP,” Sisodia said at a press conference in Lucknow. “If the AAP is voted to power, we will cancel pending electricity dues of 48 lakh (4.8 million) families who got inflated bills,” he added.
The AAP has made similar promises in election-bound states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.
Pointing out the AAP government’s success in Delhi, Sisodia said: “In Delhi, there was a huge demand of generators and invertors before 2015. But now people are getting 24x7 uninterrupted power supply.” He also promised free electricity for farmers.
In August, the AAP announced “Tiranga Yatra” across UP to mark the 75th year of India’s independence, in an attempt to make inroads into a politically crucial state. Since August 29, Sisodia and the party in charge of UP, Sanjay Singh, have conducted rallies in several parts of the state, including Agra, Lucknow and Ayodhya.
The AAP intends to contest 100 of the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, for which it has announced names of probable candidates. The party has also announced that it will not enter into a pre-poll alliance with any political party.
Hitting back, UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the AAP is running the Delhi government like a Nagar Nigam. “They (AAP) will not get candidates for all the seats and will not be able to win a single seat in UP. In such a scenario, he is making promises only,” he told news agency PTI.
He added that the law and order situation under the BJP regime has improved and bulldozers are running on illegal properties earned through ill-gotten money.
