BJP toes Kejriwal line, rakes up power, water issues

At a time when the Aam Aadmi Party is trying to corner the Congress over inflated power and water bills, the opposition BJP too joined the bandwagon and took on the government over the two issues in the Assembly on Monday.

At a time when the Aam Aadmi Party is trying to corner the Congress over inflated power and water bills, the opposition BJP too joined the bandwagon and took on the government over the two issues in the Assembly on Monday.

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BJP MLAs accused the Delhi government of working in connivance with the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and the power distribution companies.

“DERC was set up to hear grievances of the public but it seems to be working for the government, as per its requirements and needs. The Lt Governor in his opening address had announced that after privatisation, the government earned R30,000-crore profit. If this is true, why can’t they use the money to offer relief to Delhiites,” said Harshvardhan, a senior BJP Leader.

Criticising the state government’s scheme of providing R600 as direct cash transfer to the poor, Harshvardhan said it is nothing but an “insult”.

“In Delhi, one can’t even buy a gas cylinder for R600, what do they expect the poor to buy with that amount,” he added.

Citing some media reports, he slammed the government for not meeting quality standards in mid-day meals.

The BJP attacked the government for not providing ample water in many parts of the city despite being in power for the past 15 years.

“The Delhi government is exploiting the people of Delhi by not giving them basic things such as power, water and gas cylinders,” said R N Bansal, another BJP leader.

Refuting the allegations, Delhi power minister Haroon Yusuf warned the opposition to avoid politicising the issues of power and water by “misleading the people”.

“Exhorting people to not pay power bills and re-connect disconnected power connections may create lawlessness,” said Yusuf.

He said that Delhi is the only state where uninterrupted power supply is available.

“Power deficiency in Delhi is just 0.1% whereas in Madhya Pradesh it is 3.5%, Karnataka 14.9%, Bihar 21.0 %and Jharkhand 6.8%. The AT&C losses have come down from around 60% to 15% across Delhi,” he added.