"Every family will get up to 300 units per month free electricity," Arvind Kejriwal in Goa
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said each family in Goa will get up to 300 units of electricity free per month if his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is voted to power in the state Assembly elections, due in February next year.
Unveiling four "guarantees", the AAP national convener promised to waive all the old electricity bills if his party gets a chance to rule the coastal state.
"Every family will get up to 300 units of electricity free per month. We will start on a clean slate. Once the AAP government is formed in Goa, 87 per cent of consumers will start getting a zero electricity bill," he told a press conference on the last day of his two-day visit to Goa.
Mr Kejriwal also promised free electricity to farmers in the state.
"If people in Delhi can get free electricity, then why not free power for people in Goa," he said. Despite Goa being a power-surplus state, there are frequent power-cuts in the coastal state, he added.
In 2017 Goa Assembly polls, the AAP had drawn a blank.
During his two-day visit, Mr Kejriwal met various stakeholders and claimed that the AAP was getting a good response from the common people "who are looking for a clean politics after a spate of defections in the state during the current tenure".
Mr Kejriwal slammed the MLAs who left Congress and other parties to join the BJP after the last Assembly elections in Goa.
"The party (Congress) which had won 17 seats is now left with only five MLAs whereas the party (BJP) which had won only 13 seats is currently having 28 MLAs," Mr Kejriwal said.
"These MLAs who switched sides claimed that they were joining the BJP to get people's work done. Did they do people''s work as they claimed? Now people are saying that they switched sides for the lure of money. People feel betrayed," he said.
The AAP leader said the people of Goa now want change.
"The people of Goa have seen how Delhi government has been providing free electricity to its residents. If Delhi can do it, why can't Goa?" he asked.
Mr Kejriwal said 73 per cent of Delhi gets "zero electricity bill" under the AAP government.
"Delhi once faced a similar situation. When we took over, this situation was corrected within two to three years and people started getting uninterrupted power supply," the Delhi chief minister said.
He blamed defective power transmission lines for the irregular power supply, which, he said will be fixed.
Mr Kejriwal also pointed out that consumers in Goa are getting huge power bills that are not corrected by the concerned department.
"People in Goa are asked to pay money if they go to correct their power bills," he added.
Mr Kejriwal said that he felt "encouraged" as even opposition leaders are talking about his party, a day after Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu tweeted that the AAP has always recognised his vision and work for Punjab.
"Navjot Singh Sidhu? He is in Punjab. I am happy that AAP is doing such a good job that even opposition leaders are praising us. So, one feels encouraged about it," the Delhi Chief Minister said when asked about Mr Sidhu's tweets.