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300 units free electricity per month if AAP comes to power in Gujarat: Kejriwal
Taking cue from the existing model in Delhi and Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced sops for the people of Gujarat in the run up to the assembly elections, one of them being round-the-clock free electricity up to 300 (kWh) units per month for household consumers, if his party is voted to power
Taking cue from the existing model in Delhi and Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced sops for the people of Gujarat in the run up to the assembly elections, one of them being round-the-clock free electricity up to 300 (kWh) units per month for household consumers, if his party is voted to power.
Kejriwal, while addressing a town hall meeting in Surat, said inflation is one of the most pressing issues faced by the people of Gujarat today and as a step in this direction to ease the burden on the masses, his party will provide free electricity within three months of coming to power.
“We have delivered our promise of free electricity in Delhi and in Punjab where the party came to power only on March 16 this year. In Gujarat, people are facing the issue of high electricity charges. We will not only provide free power supply of up to 300 units, but also ensure 24 hours of uninterrupted power. We will implement this within three months of being voted to power. You will have to pay nothing of the bill amount if its within 300 units,” Kejriwal said.
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He said that AAP is looking into the issue of providing free electricity for the agriculture sector as well, and will soon come up with a solution for it.
“I know the magic of providing free electricity to the people. It is a blessing from above. Nobody else knows it or can do it. So even if somebody else tries to make such a promise to you, do not trust them. Only I can deliver the promise of free electricity,” the Delhi chief minister said, adding that consumers who use more than 300 units of electricity will have to pay the entire bill amount.
Kejriwal declared that his party will present the Gujaratis with the party’s election agenda in the coming weeks.
Before he arrived in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gujarat unit chief CR Paatil said people should not get misguided by ‘revadi’, a popular sweet often distributed during festivals, as a metaphor for freebies offered by political parties.
Paatil, without naming anyone, said the culture of offering freebies could eventually turn the state and India into Sri Lanka, which is currently going through its worst economic crisis.
In his response, Kejriwal said, “Revadi is offered as prasad in temples and it should be accepted with full respect. So, if giving free electricity or free education is seen as ‘revadi’ it is like blessing from the gods.”
The Gujarat assembly elections are scheduled to be held in December this year.
