BJP trying to grab power in Delhi by misleading people: Cong

BJP's Goel had on Thursday accused Dikshit of "falsely" claiming that the tariff in Delhi was lowest in the country

Upping the ante against BJP, Congress today accused the opposition party of trying to grab power in the national capital after a hiatus of 15 years by misleading people on issues like power, water and governance.

Three senior ministers in the Sheila Dikshit dispensation -- Harun Yusuf, Arvinder Singh Lovely and Raj Kumar Chouhan -- launched a broadside against Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel, alleging that he was levelling wild accusations and making "unbelievable promises" to win the polls.

The ministers also attacked Goel for going to Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna for appointment of Accountability Commission to probe alleged irregularities in Delhi government.

"Goel said his party (BJP) was ready to appoint an Accountability Commission for municipal corporations. Then why have they gone to the Lt Governor? They should have done it already," Lovely said.

Goel had yesterday said BJP was ready to set up an Accountability Commission for municipal corporations ruled by it to fix responsibility for delays and cost overruns in projects and dared Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to appoint a similar body for her government.

On power tariff issue, Yusuf said Goel's promise of cutting down power tariff by 30 per cent was misleading. "The party should then cut tariff using the same formula in the states ruled by it.

"They are making promises which cannot be implemented. We have been providing subsidy to large section of power consumers as ours is a sensitive government," Yusuf said.

Goel had on Thursday accused Dikshit of "falsely" claiming that the tariff in Delhi was lowest in the country.

Yusuf said BJP would cut tariff by 30 per cent by curtailing the supply.

"We never supported the power distribution companies. The tariff is fixed by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission and the government does not have any say in it," Yusuf said.

"The cost of procuring electricity has increased from Rs 1.50 per unit in 2002 to Rs 6.80 in 2012. Goel should also refer to the increase in usage and peak demand that his government 15 years ago could never manage.

"If peak demand has gone up by three times and units consumed have also increased three times, it is but natural that meter readings shall on an average increase by three times. It is dishonest on the part of Goel's party, whose government could not give more than 15-16 hours of power, to talk of power supply or of the power situation," he said.

On the issue of water, Chouhan said the water distribution network has been strengthened in the last 15 years and alleged that BJP has been resorting to spreading "canards" against the government.