Amid ‘revdi’ jibe, AAP does power subsidy rerouting

At present, anyone in Delhi using up to 200 units gets 100% subsidy, those using up to 400 units get 50% rebate up to Rs 800, while there is no subsidy after that. Last week, the Arvind Kejriwal government announced that from now, those who want to keep availing the subsidy need to “opt in”.

The moves comes in the backdrop of the BJP mounting a sustained attack against AAP over doling out “freebies” to win elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting this off by slamming “muft ki revdi”.

The Delhi government announced a portal as well as a phone number where people can apply if they want to avail the power subsidy. Those who do not, need not fill any forms and their subsidy will be discontinued automatically.

Sources said the Delhi government had also dropped a plan to send letters to all power consumers in Delhi, detailing the amount of money they had saved over the past three years because of the power subsidy.

Apart from taking on the BJP, senior AAP leaders say they believe the opt-in decision will also help counter the perception that people do not want subsidies, expecting most of the consumers to sign up to apply for the power rebate.

A senior leader said: “Our party has always believed that people should be given baseline amenities for free so that the poor do not struggle to meet their basic needs. This is why 200 units of power and 20 kilolitres of water have been made free for people. However, we realised that if people do not want to avail these subsidies, they should be given that option as well. This option also exists for women in buses. While they do not have to buy a ticket and can travel for free in DTC buses, if they want, they can buy a ticket.”

AAP is sensitive to the freebie charge particularly in the context of the coming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections, where it is in the race.

Another leader said: “Our stand on these so-called freebies has always been clear. We want to make sure that we are a government that can meet the very basic needs of the people. If the only reason we were winning polls was freebies, why didn’t the BJP win in Delhi in 2020 (the second time that AAP was elected to power with a full majority in the Capital)? They had made it clear that they would not do away with any of the subsidies we had started. The reason we win is that we have a vision for development and we know how to get there. The Congress is not really a player anymore. But the BJP and PM Modi have failed to deliver. This is why people vote for us.”

On whether the Delhi move meant AAP intends to make the power subsidy optional in Punjab as well, the party leader said: “I don’t think there is any move towards that just yet. The subsidy has just come into force in Punjab.”

The Delhi BJP has attacked Kejriwal for doing the turnaround on the power subsidy. Party Delhi chief Adesh Gupta called it abolition of the subsidy by AAP.

Kejriwal was a “master of U-turns”, Gupta said. “After spending government money on liquor mafia, Kejriwal has taken a U-turn with regards to his own announcement regarding electricity. His own revdi culture has overshadowed him… The abolition of subsidy on electricity shows that Kejriwal used the taxpayers’ money for his own benefit.”

Accusing the AAP government of actually sending “slum dwellers bills running into lakhs of rupees”, Gupta said: “Now that Kejriwal has decided to end the subsidy, the burden of electricity charges will increase, especially for the common man.”