Arvind Kejriwal promises free electricity up to 300 units in Punjab if AAP wins next year's assembly polls

This is Kejriwal's second visit to Punjab this month. (Image : ANI)

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will provide free electricity up to 300 units, waive off all pending bills and ensure 24-hour electricity in Punjab, if it wins the assembly polls in the state scheduled next year, Delhi chief minister and AAP national convenor said on June 29.

The AAP government provides 200 units of free electricity to every household in Delhi.

"Punjab produces electricity but the tariffs are most expensive here. We do not produce electricity in Delhi and yet the electricity rates are cheapest. This is because there is a nexus of the Punjab government with the discoms. We have to break this nexus like we did in Delhi to ensure we have the cheapest electricity rates here as well," Kejriwal said in Chandigarh.

Earlier in the day as he set out from Delhi, Kejriwal proclaimed, in a tweet, that Punjab was getting ready for a "new dawn".

पंजाब एक नई सुबह के लिए तैयार हो रहा है और मैं पंजाब पहुंचने के लिए...मिलते हैं बस कुछ घंटे बाद...

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 29, 2021

Kejriwal said free electricity up to 300 units would mean 70-80 per cent of power consumes in Punjab will get Zero bills.  At least 73 per cent households got zero bills in Delhi when the government offered 200 free units, he said.

"I am making three announcements today. First, if we come to power in Punjab, we will provide 300 units of free electricity to every household. Second, we will waive off all pending domestic electricity bills and restore the connection of people who have not been able to pay bills. Third, we will ensure 24-hour electricity supply like we did in Delhi," Kejriwal said.

READ: AAP's CM face for Punjab to be from the Sikh community: Arvind Kejriwal

This is Kejriwal's second visit to Punjab this month. He was in Amritsar nine days ago to induct former IPS officer Vijay Pratap Singh, who was part of the team that investigated the 2015 Kotkapura police firing incident.

"This is not Captain Amarinder Singh's promise. We will pass the order of 300 free units and waiving off pending bills in the first meeting after coming to power. The 24-hour supply will take a few years, though," Kejriwal said.

Also, read : Trouble in Congress’ Punjab unit is latest example of a weakening high command

In 2017, the AAP won 20 of 117 seats while the Congress won the polls by bagging 77 seats. AAP became the state’s main opposition party after the SAD-BJP alliance finished with just 15 seats.

Delhi's ruling party AAP's attempts to play a larger role at the national level have failed in the past, except in Punjab where it eventually emerged as the main opposition party. However, its electoral performance in the 2020 Delhi assembly polls, winning 62 out of the 70 seats and storming to power third time, has renewed the party's desire to expand its footprint beyond the national capital.

Also, read : How Arvind Kejriwal's AAP trumped Congress in Surat municipal polls

Kejriwal said on June 14 that AAP will contest all seats in the next year’s Gujarat Assembly polls. In January, he announced in January that the party will contest assembly elections in six states in the next two years. In December last year, Kejriwal had announced that his party will also contest UP assembly polls also scheduled next year.