AAP launches 'Bijli Andolan' in Haryana; Kejriwal promises free power if voted to power

Chandigarh: The AAP on Sunday launched a 'Bijli Andolan' from Panchkula with its supremo Arvind Kejriwal targeting the ruling BJP over alleged regular outages in Haryana and promising free electricity if voted to power.

Free and uninterrupted power supply is possible if intent is clean, he said at an event also attended by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

During the 'Bijli Andolan' (electricity campaign), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and leaders will visit villages and towns and apprise people about "costly power" and regular outages and tell them that free and round-the-clock electricity is possible in Haryana too if the party is voted to power.

"We are launching a Bijli Andolan... As you know, I have my roots in Haryana. Many people from the state have met me and told me about issues related to power cuts," Kejriwal said, addressing a gathering in Panchkula.

"We will run this Andolan in Haryana" for the next one month or two, he said.

"We had fought first polls in Delhi on the issue of power and won," he said, adding he the AAP can replicate this in Haryana next year if the issue of power is taken to every household.

When a woman from among the audience alleged she has been handed a Rs 1.40-lakh power bill, Kejriwal said, "People are getting wrong bills, and ultimately they are forced to pay when these are not rectified." In 75 years, he said, these parties could not set the state of electricity in order.

"How will they handle the country?" "When we came to power in Delhi, at that time the national capital was facing up to eight hours of power cuts and electricity charges were very high. But things were set right," the AAP convener said.

"Our intent is clean. There is no dearth of money with governments, but intent has to be clean. Their intent is not good. I came to know that they entered into a 25-year agreement with a company to purchase power at a particular rate. To benefit that company, they later increased rates and consumers have to bear this," Kejriwal said about Haryana.

The Delhi CM said the country needs "educated people" to run it.

"We are educated, and they are 'fourth class' pass...they are illiterate, they don't know how to run the government," he said.

Kejriwal said the country has a capacity to produce 4 lakh megawatt power as against demand of 2 lakh megawatt.

"Then there should be no shortage of power. Why we are not producing enough power. Because he is class 4 pass," he said. "Electricity can be given 24 hours and free. We have shown that model." The Delhi government's fiscal position is good despite giving free power, he said.

"Tell me one state ruled by the Congress or BJP that provides 24-hour power. If you vote them again, then you will have to face power cuts and costly power will consume chunk of your earnings," he said.

Kejriwal said he was told that people in Haryana have to shell out Rs 1,200-1,300 for consuming 200 units of power, whereas Delhi residents get zero bill for the same amount of power consumed.

Then he compared the state with Punjab, saying that for 300 units, people get Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 bill in Haryana, where it's zero in Punjab.

Kejriwal asserted the Punjab CM was right when he said there was no need for people like them to enter politics if past leaders had done their job properly. "I was doing a job and Bhagwant Mann was an artiste," the Delhi CM said.

"Anna Hazare ji used to say politics is dirty, I told him 'but we will have to enter to clean it'. And we did this in Delhi, Punjab and now we will do in Haryana," he said.

In his address, Punjab CM Mann said if after decades of Independence there are power cuts and "we are unable to produce enough power, then it is shameful".

"It means there is lack of intent." Mann claimed that 90 per cent households in Punjab are getting zero power bill for the past one year. "This is possible because our intent is clean," he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Mann said, "They talk of double engine, I am saying you need the latest engine".

"When we give 300 units of free power (in Punjab), they say Bhagwant Mann is giving freebies. At least these are reaching people, what about their Rs 15 lakh promise," said Mann targeting BJP.