NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday met chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, demanding six-month waiver to power consumers in the city who, she said, have been made to pay over Rs 7,400 crore as increased fixed charges and surcharge for pension fund.
A party delegation, led by Ms Dikshit, met the CM at his Flagstaff Road residence, and raised issues related to power and water supply faced by the people in the national capital.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders claimed that the current rates of electricity were “cheaper” than what consumers paid during the Dikshit regime and added that the complaints of the Congress delegation were countered with facts, leaving them speechless.
A memorandum, signed by Ms Dikshit, was submitted to Mr Kejriwal. The Delhi Congress has stepped up attack on the ruling AAP over issues related to power and water supply, which the ruling dispensation claims were its biggest achievements, with the Delhi Assembly polls due in early 2020.
Delhi Congress working president Haroon Yusuf said that Ms Dikshit raised the power and water crises being faced by people during the meeting. “The CM assured that fixed charges will be brought to lower rates,” he claimed. During the meeting, the Congress delegation also discussed power outages, particularly in poor pockets in the city, Mr Yusuf said.
“The Delhi Jal Board is supplying 900 million gallons per day (MGD) water against peak demand of 1200 MGD, resulting in a massive water shortage across the capital,” the party memorandum said.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed that in 2013, Mr Kejriwal went to meet Ms Dikshit, who was the then chief minister, against the power tariff hike but he was told that she was “sleeping” and added “Kejriwal met and listened to her today”.
“Congress delegation was provided fact-sheet at CM house. @SheilaDikshit left embarrassed when she found that 2019 rates under AK are still half of what she charged. That too after 6 yrs,” he tweeted. “We sought to know from the Congress delegation the basic calculation behind their complaints but they had nothing to offer,” he said, claiming that the delegation “accepted” that power supply situation was “better” now.
