Ahead of polls, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday announced free power and water for the people of the state. He said electricity bills upto 125 units will be free of cost and people in rural areas will be exempted from paying water bills.
The Chief Minister also announced that women will now have to pay only 50% fare for bus tickets. These announcements come just months before the assembly elections in the state and many believe that these decisions are taken to counter the promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party, which has set its eyes on Himachal.
Soon after Thakur’s announcement, AAP leader and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) doesn’t believe in giving any facility to the public and that new announcements were a copy of Arvind Kejriwal’s model of governance.
“Himachal CM has announced to give 150 free units of electricity, free water in villages and half bus fare for women. The BJP doesn’t believe in giving any facility to the public. It’s due to fear of the AAP that they have started copying Arvind Kejriwal’s model of governance,” Sisodia said.
The Delhi Deputy CM said that fearing defeat in elections, the BJP is announcing free electricity in Himachal Pradesh. He said if the BJP is interested in giving free power in Himachal then it should first announce it in the states currently under its rule. “The people of Himachal are understanding everything, they will not fall for it,” he said on Twitter.
Earlier this month, Sisodia had claimed that the BJP was scared of defeat in the upcoming elections and it was likely that the ruling party may declare Union Minister Anurag Thakur its CM candidate in Himachal.
