File photo: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit
BJP today kickstarted its campaign in Delhi for the upcoming assembly polls by launching a major offensive against the Sheila Dikshit government and announced lowering of power tariff by 30 per cent, if voted to power.
At a big rally at the Ramlila ground here, BJP President Rajnath Singh announced that no one can stop BJP from coming back to power and ousting the "corrupt" Congress government which has been ruling for the last 15 years.
Giving a clarion call to oust the Dikshit government, he said, "This huge rally at Ramlila Maidan has sent a strong message that now no power in the world can stop the ouster of this government in Delhi."
"We should take a pledge from this Ramlila ground to change both the Delhi government in the coming assembly polls and later the Central government in the 2014 general elections," the BJP Chief told the rally.
Singh said it was unfortunate that Congress despite ruling for a majority period post-Independence was unable to eradicate poverty. He claimed that over one crore people in Delhi were still living without basic amenities and promised to remove poverty in the next five to seven years.
Alleging a 'massive scam' in the power sector, Delhi BJP Chief Vijay Goel announced that they will order a CAG audit of all power companies operating in Delhi and the electricity rates will be brought down by 30 per cent, if voted to power.
Today's rally saw various factions within the Delhi unit of the party come together, with Goel and his detractors like senior leaders VK Malhotra, Harsha Vardhan, Arti Mehra and Vijendra Gupta putting up a united show.
BJP's Delhi election incharge Nitin Gadkari and party's co-convener for Delhi affairs Navjot Singh Sidhu were, however, conspicuous by their absence.
Goel alleged that consumers were being "fleeced" by private power distribution companies in connivance with Delhi Government. He rued that there was no competition among power companies leading to unregulated power rates.
He also unveiled a 10-point formula to bring down the electricity tariff by 30 per cent.