New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while addressing the party workers during the protest over water bills on Sunday took a sharp jibe at the BJP-led central government saying that he should get a “Nobel prize” for running a government in the national capital due the conflict between the two governments. “My heart knows only how I’m running the government. The way the BJP, along with the Lieutenant Governor (LG), has been troubling the people of the capital, and the way I have been constantly addressing and solving all these problems that people of Delhi encounter, is something that I deserve a Nobel Prize for. But the Nobel Prize for me is nothing but your love and support, the faith you have in me is what I have earned,” he added.
Taking the opportunity to protest against the exorbitant water bills received by Delhiites to blow the poll bugle, the Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor urged the people to send all the 7 Lok Sabha candidates of the INDIA alliance from Delhi to Parliament.
After his address Arvind Kejriwal posted a tweet on the ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), stating, “INDIA Alliance will win all the seven seats of Delhi. We work for the development and progress of Delhiites, BJP people are busy ruining Delhi, they are busy making Delhiites unhappy. The one who gives relief is greater than the one who kills.”
Speaking at the AAP headquarters amidst a gathering of senior party leaders, workers and hundreds of denizens, Kejriwal said, “On Saturday I went to Govindpuri in Kalkaji. People have received ridiculous water bills there. Those living in houses as small as built on 50 square yards received inflated water bills in lakhs of rupees _ some received bills of Rs 30000, Rs 50000, Rs one lakh, Rs 2 lakh, Rs 3 lakh. A house that remained closed during the period received a bill of Rs 3.25 lakh.” Scores of Delhiites, who had brought along their exorbitant bills, started waiving them to affirm the chief minister’s statement.
Arvind Kejriwal said if a poor man gets a bill of Rs 40000 or Rs 1 lakh, what will he eat, what will he feed his children with and how will he teach them? “Obviously all the bills are wrong. And this whole thing started during the time of Covid. This trend started when meter readers did not go to take readings for several months during the time of Covid. He sat in the office and made up some reading, after which a wrong bill was issued, interest started being charged on that too, then LPSC (late payment surcharge) started being charged and now people got a bill of ₹2 to 3 lakh each. There are nearly 10.30 lakh to 11 lakh families in Delhi who have received wrong bills,” he said.
Assuring the citizens that their bills will be recast after correction, the Delhi Chief Minister said, “The AAP government is your government, it is the government of the people of Delhi, it is the government of 2 crore people of Delhi. If it was the government of the BJP, then they would have cut off the water connections of all the people. But as long as your son is alive, there is no chance that anyone’s water connection will be cut. Today I want to tell you that those people who feel that their water bill has been wrong, if you feel that the water bill is correct then pay it, and if you feel that the water bill is wrong, then there is no need to pay. If Kejriwal is there, he will not allow the BJP people to commit hooliganism at all.”
The Chief Minister said that we had brought such a good scheme, which was passed by the Delhi Jal Board on June 12, 2023. Now the scheme is to be passed by the Cabinet. However, the BJP people got it stalled through the Lieutenant Governor. Officers were threatened and I saw senior IAS officers in tears. The officers told (ministers) Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj that they are being threatened if they pass the scheme, they will be suspended, framed in fake ED and CBI cases and put in jail like (minister) Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, added Shri Kejriwal.
Arvind Kejriwal further added, “If you choose the INDIA bloc this time, Delhi will have its own defence armour and nobody can trouble the people then, they will be able to protect themselves from these people who are constantly on the lookout to create problems. No LG will then be able to harm the people of Delhi since we’ll have a strong representation in the Parliament. I have barely seen any of the elected seven representatives raising the real concerns of Delhi, in the Parliament so far. Once you give these 7 seats to us, I promise you that the incorrectly inflated water bills will be waived off within 15 days of the Lok Sabha Elections, and no LG will be able to do anything to the people of Delhi. I am hereby reiterating that you do not need to pay these faulty bills. You can tear and burn these bills right in front of BJP officials, I’m standing with you.”
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