Delhi CM: Will provide power subsidy to tenants also

New Delhi: In a move to lure the middle class with largesse, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his government will extend the power subsidy scheme to tenants as well.

It’s the second major poll announcement by the AAP chief. He had earlier promised to exempt residential house tax, as the party gears up to contest its first full-fledged civic elections in the national capital.

“The tenants living in Delhi do not get the benefit of low tariffs on power and water. After the MCD polls, we will also work to extend the relief to these tenants,” Mr Kejriwal on Twitter. But, Mr Kejriwal did not give any timeline on implementation of the promise.

Soon after a thumping mandate in the February 2015 Assembly polls in Delhi, Mr Kejriwal’s government provided 50 per cent subsidy to households consuming up to 400 units per month and it provided 20,000 litres of free water per month to a family.

If the BJP and the Congress are voted to power, they will hike the electricity tariffs in the Delhi, Mr Kejriwal said. The civic polls on April 23 will be a referendum on the AAP government’s performance in the last two years. The party’s major challenge will be the BJP, which has been ruling the three civic bodies for 10 consecutive years.