Congress delegation unable to provide basis of complaint on power pricing: AAP

A Congress delegation led by former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday to discuss electricity rates in the city but failed to provide the basis for complaint, said AAP's spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.

"When the chief minister asked Sheila Dikshit, what was the basis of her calculations on electricity pricing in the city over which she had come to meet him, she could not explain what her cause for concern was.

"She looked to her colleague and former Power Minister of Delhi Haroon Yusuf for support, who in turn looked to Devendra Yadav, who then looked at Rajesh Lilothia. Unfortunately, none of them could explain what was the basis of their concerns," Bhardwaj said at a press conference here.

Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain presented the facts and figures to counter the Congress delegations accusation.

"In 2010, during the Congress government, for a 1 kW meter reading 50 units, the bill generated was of Rs 153. In 2013, this escalated to Rs 264. Within 3 years, bills went up by 73% during Sheila Dikshit's tenure. Today, for the same consumption, Delhi pays only Rs 128 which is approximately half of the bill in 2013," Jain said.

Jain then went on to add, "Similarly for a consumption of 100 units, the bill in 2013 would amount to Rs 485, but today consumers have to pay just Rs 211. No matter what is the consumption of power, Delhi consumers under the AAP government pay about half of what they had to pay during Congress rule."

Jain targeted the Congress party by stating they refused to take responsibility for the other states where Congress was in power.

"When we asked the Congress delegation to bring the power prices in other Congress-ruled states at par with those of the AAP government in Delhi, the Congress leaders shirked from taking responsibility claiming they had no powers over other Congress state administrations," Jain said.

He then urged Congress to stop making "baseless allegations" and focus itself on providing electricity in states where they are in power.

"I urge the Congress to refrain from making false and baseless allegations and focus its energies on supplying power in Congress-ruled states for prices as low as those in Delhi," Jain said.