Arvind Kejriwal said neither the BJP nor the Congress has Uttarakhand's development on mind.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today gave a big boost to the Aam Admi Party's (AAP) poll campaign in Uttarakhand, announcing some major election promises and also lashing out against its bigger rivals, the BJP and Congress. Among his party's offers to the state's people, the most important ones focused on electricity: no power cuts, 300 free units every month for each household, a waiver of earlier bills, and free supply to farmers.
The AAP National Convenor cited his party's performance in Delhi to tell voters they need to avoid the BJP and the Congress which are only after power and not development.
"Uttarakhand's people have for the past 20 years been getting ground by these two parties (BJP and Congress) like grain between two millstones...They are only fighting for the chair," Mr Kejriwal said today in his first press conference amid AAP's campaign for the state polls scheduled for February 2022.
"Who will think of the development of the people of Uttarakhand?" he asked.
Mr Kejriwal talked briefly about price rise and the problems faced by ordinary families because of it before moving on to the power sector.
He asked why electricity was so costly in the state despite Uttarakhand being a power producer and sending it to others. He asked if any party had even considered providing free power to the people of the state.
"I heard the Uttarakhand power minister announcing on TV the provision of 100 units free and between 100 and 200 units at half the price. But will those who make such promises six months before elections stick to them?" the Delhi Chief Minister asked.
"Today I am guaranteeing four things on the power issue. And this is not an election jumla," he said announcing the party's poll promise of free 300 units and others.
Mr Kejriwal also said if an AAP government is formed, no taxes will be increased for five years and the state will not seek loans.
"What we did in Delhi, we will do in Uttarakhand, too."