Ahead of Assembly Elections in Uttarakhand next year, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised up to 300 units of free electricity in the poll-bound state if AAP is voted to power.
In Dehradun on Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal also promised to waive all old electricity bills, 24 hour supply of electricity and free power to farmers.
"These things are guaranteed if we come to power in the state. If we can do it in Delhi, then why can't we do it in Uttarakhand, which not only produces electricity but also gives it to other states," Kejriwal said at a press conference.
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"There will be no power cuts. Free electricity doesn't mean long outages. When we took over in Delhi 7-8 hours long power outages were common. We set that right," said the AAP leader who recently promised free electricity to every household in Punjab that consumes up to 300 units of power if his party forms government in the state next year.
Kejriwal had last year announced a 100 percent subsidy for those households which consume up to 200 units of electricity in Delhi. Consumers of 201-400 units received approximately 50 percent subsidy.
In Uttarakhand, he said, every household will be provided 300 units of free electricity if the AAP forms the government.
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The freebies announced on Sunday are being seen as his attempt to woo voters and steal the ruling BJP's thunder by going one step ahead of it.
Uttrakhand Power Minister Harak Singh Rawat had recently announced that the state government will give free electricity to people of the state up to 100 units.
The AAP leader remembered how he and his ministers went door-to-door to get transformers and wires replaced.
He claimed that AAP workers touring different areas of Uttarakhand have found that exaggerated bills have been issued on a large scale to people "deliberately to dupe them".
"So we have decided to waive the old bills and start afresh if elected to power. We will also give free electricity to farmers for agricultural purposes," Kejriwal said.
The AAP, which has not been able to win a single seat in the state in the past elections, has plans to emerge as an alternative to both Congress and BJP in the next assembly polls.
Kejriwal said he will announce the party's chief ministerial candidate during his next visit to the state.
He alleged that the BJP and the Congress have led Uttarakhand "to doom" and the people of the state have fallen victim to their design. The two parties have a "good setting" between them, he claimed.
"Look at the record from the year 2000 onwards. We loot for one term, you loot for another. That seems to be the arrangement between them, " Kejriwal said, referring to the pattern in successive elections in Uttarakhand where power changes hands between the two parties every five years.
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Taking a jibe at the BJP for the repeated change of guard in the state, the Delhi Chief Minister said that "it is for the first time in the history of India that a party has itself admitted that its chief ministers have been useless".
He said a promise of free electricity was made to the people displaced by the Tehri dam, but it was never fulfilled. The AAP leader said Delhi is today witnessing development works that did not happen in the last 70 years.
On the issue of price rise, he said it has become difficult for common people to sustain their families, and women are the worst sufferers. Referring to the next year's assembly elections in Uttarakhand, he claimed people have made up their mind about bringing the AAP to power.
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Earlier on Saturday, Kejriwal had asked why the people of the hill state, which generates electricity, cannot get free power like in the national capital.
“Uttarakhand generates electricity and also sells it to other states. Then, why is electricity so expensive for the people of Uttarakhand? Delhi does not generate its own electricity and buys it from other states and yet, electricity in Delhi is free. Shouldn't the people of Uttarakhand get free electricity?” Kejriwal had asked in a tweet in Hindi.
The party has decided to contest the assembly polls in the state due next year.
(With inputs from PTI)
