File photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
Stung by barbs at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's "Rs 91,000 electricity bill," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government today came out with an emphatic denial. The government said the bill included charges for a camp office at the Chief Minister's residence at Civil Lines in north Delhi.
Mr Kejriwal's monthly electricity bill is around Rs. 15,000, "nowhere close to the figure being reported in the media," the government said in a press statement.
Documents furnished by the government in response to an RTI or Right to Information application had indicated that Mr Kejriwal had run up an electricity bill of Rs. 91,000 in two months.
This led to sharp criticism by the BJP, which called Mr Kejriwal "two-faced."
"The people of Delhi know that he does not practice what he preaches," said BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.
In its rebuttal on Tuesday, the government said the Chief Minister's house was divided into two units using separate power connections, and Mr Kejriwal's private residence was only one of these units. After moving into the house in February, Mr Kejriwal had spent Rs. 17,000 in March, Rs. 7,370 in April and Rs. 22,690 in May, said the statement.
The government said a part of the house was kept for official work and meetings with the public. In March, this part of the Chief Minister's residence ran up a bill of Rs. 15,175. In April, it shot up to Rs. 48, 630 and in May, it is "yet to be paid," says the government statement.
"300 people come to meet him every day. Is he expected to make people sit in that hall in such scorching heat and humidity?" questioned AAP leader Jarnail Singh.