Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday promised to give every woman in Punjab Rs. 1,000 per month if the Aam Aadmi Party is elected to power. With mere months left for the state Assembly elections, all political parties in the fray have amped up efforts to woo voters. The AAP Chief had previously promised free electricity and free health care to the people of the northern state. 

“If we form govt in Punjab in 2022, every woman in Punjab above the age of 18 will get Rs. 1,000 per month deposited directly into her account. If a family has 3 female members, then each will get Rs. 1,000. This will be the world’s biggest women empowerment program,” Kejriwal said while addressing an event in Moga.

In an apparent reference to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Kejriwal said he was the only person in the country who could bring electricity bills down to zero. “In Punjab, a fake Kejriwal is roaming. Whatever I promise here, he repeats the same…beware of that fake Kejriwal,” he said.

The Chief Minister is on a two-day visit to the state to launch ‘Mission Punjab’. He is slated to visit Ludhiana later today and will talk to auto drivers. According to a statement issued by the party’s headquarters, Kejriwal will visit various places in the state over the next month to announce the party’s programmes ahead of the 2022 polls. On Tuesday, Kejriwal will address a press conference in Amritsar as well as attend a party program. 

In the 2017 elections, the AAP has emerged as the second-largest party, winning 20 seats in the 117-member Assembly. The Congress had secured an absolute majority with 77 seats, ousting the SAD-BJP government after a decade. 

A day earlier, Kejriwal had promised to introduce a free pilgrimage scheme for the people of Uttarakhand if the Aam Aadmi Party came to power. Under this, Hindus would be taken to Ayodhya, Muslims to Ajmer Sharif and Sikhs to Kartarpur Sahib, he explained during a press conference in Haridwar.