NEW DELHI: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday vowed to cancel the “inflated” water bills faced by Delhi residents if his party regains power in the upcoming assembly elections.
“I have said this earlier, but today I am making a formal announcement: when AAP comes back to power after the assembly polls, these inflated bills will be waived. Those who think their bills are incorrect need not pay them,” the former chief minister said addressing a media briefing in Delhi.
Kejriwal addressed the concerns of residents who had received substantial water bills, some amounting to thousands and lakhs of rupees, from the Delhi Jal Board.
He claimed that the excessive billing began after his imprisonment and advised residents to withhold payment of these bills.
“Our government in Delhi has been providing free water to people for the last 10 years. More than 12 lakh families get 0 water bills. But after I went to jail, I don’t know what these people did,” Kejriwal told the reporters.
“They did something wrong and people started getting water bills of thousands and lakhs of rupees every month. I want to publicly and officially announce that those who think their bills are wrong, they need not pay their water bills, they should wait,” he added.
He further asserted that under the AAP administration, households receive 20,000 litres of water without charge monthly, with more than 12 lakh families benefiting from this initiative.
Kejriwal also claimed that the female protesters protesting outside his residence were not Punjab natives but rather affiliated with Congress or BJP.
“Those women belong to their (Congress and BJP) party. They have not come from Punjab, the women in Punjab are with us. They have faith in AAP,” Kejriwal told, news agency PTI reported.
“Congress and BJP should officially announce that they are contesting elections together against AAP in Delhi,” he added.
