Kejriwal promises free public transport for women in Delhi

New Delhi: Ahead of the Delhi Assembly election, the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has played a populist move by promising free travel in public transport to women in the national capital.

In order to woo voters, Mr Kejriwal said in a press conference on Monday that the move, which is yet to be cleared by the Centre, will be launched in three months. He said that it would cost the Delhi government Rs 700 crore this year.

Hitting out at Mr Kejriwal, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari termed him as the ‘announcement minister’ of Delhi rather than the chief minister as he has made one more false announcement.

“These are persons who are called ‘nakampanthis.’ At the time of election, this ‘announcement minister’ made 70 promises to the people and also promised to make Delhi number one in development. He could not make Delhi number one in development, but he made it number one in pollution. The ‘announcement minister’ made many false announcements but when the time came for fulfilling the promises already made, he made one more promise,” he said.

The chief minister further said that officers have been given a week to prepare a detailed report, after which a proposal will be brought in the Cabinet.

“The Delhi Metro is partly run by the Central government. Those who want to buy tickets are free to do so; they need not take the subsidy. Several women can afford these modes of transport. Those who can afford it can buy tickets and forgo subsidy so others could benefit,” he explained.

The AAP chief also said that his government was in touch with the city’s power regulator to bring down the fixed charge component of electricity bills.