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Arvind Kejriwal said that inflated water bills slapped on Delhi residents will be waived off if AAP returns to power. This came as Punjab women protested outside his residence against ‘fake’ promises.
Those Delhi residents who think their bills are wrong, need not pay, said Arvind Kejriwal.
Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should officially announce that they are contesting Delhi assembly elections together against the Aam Aadmi Party, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday. Even as women from Punjab were protesting outside his residence, the former Delhi CM asserted that his party had delivered on all promises.
“…Lekin jab mai jail gaya, inlogo ne peeche se pata nahi kya kiya. Kuch toh gadbad ki (They did something when I was in jail. Some issues arose in my absence),” said Kejriwal while hinting that BJP was behind the inflated water bills that many Delhi residents received.
Asserting that AAP provided free water supply to over 12 lakh families in Delhi, the AAP chief promised, “I want to publicly and officially announce that those who think their bills are wrong, they need not pay. Wait for the elections; AAP will form the government, and we will waive off those wrong bills.”
The ‘half-state’ of New Delhi is a Union Territory and an Assembly. It is jointly administered by the central government (presently ruled by BJP) and the local government of Delhi (presently ruled by AAP), and serves as the capital of the nation as well as the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
Kejriwal’s assurance came at a time when a group of women from Punjab were staging a protest outside his residence. The protesters accused the AAP-led Punjab government of backtracking on the promise of providing Rs 1,000 to every woman.
“We have come from Amritsar to put forward our matters. Do not cheat the women of Delhi as you did with the women of Punjab,” a woman told reporters while being detained by Delhi police. “Do not make a promise of Rs 2,100 to the women of Delhi”
Natwarlal getting belt-treatment😂”We’ve come from Punjab’s Gurdaspur. People there are poor, they (Kejriwal & Bhagwant Mann) promised to give ₹1000 to every woman. They formed Govt by lying”
Delhiites,you aren’t watching Punjabi Women protesting. You’re watching your Future. pic.twitter.com/mn2EiJMLTS
— BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) January 4, 2025
On December 22, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal announced the launch of registrations for the ‘Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana‘. Under this scheme, AAP aims to provide women residing in Delhi with Rs 2,100 per month.
“These women belong to their (Congress and BJP) party. They have not come from Punjab, the women in Punjab are with us. They have faith in AAP. Congress and BJP should officially announce that they are contesting elections together against AAP in Delhi,” Kejriwal said, adding that the grand old party should not worry about AAP.
The Congress was in power in Punjab before AAP defeated it in Assembly election in 2022.
Senior Congress leaders from Punjab cautioned Delhi residents against the “fake and bogu promises of AAP and Kejriwal. They warned the women about Rs 2,100 monthly stipend promised by Kejriwal, citing the example of Punjab, where a similar promise was made three years ago, but nothing has been done till now.
Dismissing the grand old party, the former Delhi CM said, “Don’t take Congress seriously.”
The BJP too called AAP “fake and fraud”. Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya posted a video on X and said that the woman whose photo has been used in the advertisement of Rs 2,100 per month scheme promise of AAP is a “BJP voter and her photo has been used without asking her”.
अरविंद केजरीवाल कितना बड़ा फ्रॉड है, यह इस बात से ही पता चलता है कि जिस महिला की फोटो आप-दा के फ़र्ज़ी विज्ञापन में लगाई गई है, वह भाजपा की वोटर है और उनकी फोटो बिना उनसे पूछे इस्तेमाल की गई है। pic.twitter.com/mSS72l8o6p— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 4, 2025
Union home minister Amit Shah also attacked Kejriwal and narrated an incident when some children went to meet him at his residence. “So I asked then what has Kejriwal ji done? One child said Kejriwal has built a big ‘Sheesh Mahal’ worth Rs 45 crore for himself,” Shah said.
The Union home minister reminded former Delhi CM that when he entered politics, he used to say that he will not take a government car or a government bungalow. “Today he has built ‘Sheesh Mahal’ for himself. Kejriwal ji, you will have to give an account to the people of Delhi,” Shah added.
The elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly are likely to be held in February. The Election Commission of India is expected to announced poll dates in days to come. The term of the current assembly in Delhi expires on February 23, 2025.
The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 29 candidates for the polls, fielding former MP Parvesh Verma from the New Delhi seat against Arvind Kejriwal. It has named another former MP Ramesh Bidhuri from Kalkaji, where Chief Minister and AAP candidate Atishi is in the fray.
