Taking a cue from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Saturday announced free electricity and water every day in Uttarakhand if his party is elected in the assembly elections in 2022.
Rawat made this promise of providing free electricity up to 250 units to every household and free water up to 25 litres per person in a video message on social media on Saturday.
This announcement could make a huge difference for the prospects of the Congress party in Uttarakhand where proper drinking water and power supply remain main issues, especially in remote hilly districts.
The Congress has 11 seats in the 70-member state assembly.
In the 3-minute-56-second video, Rawat expressed confidence that his party will return to power in the state in the 2022 assembly elections.
“We are coming to power in 2022 which is for sure. Our government will then provide free electricity up to 250 units to every household and free water up to 25 litres to each person of the state. But for this the public has to wait for about one year,” Rawat said.
The former chief minister then talked about how he “increased the power generation in the state after becoming the chief minister in 2014.”
“In 2014 when we came to power, the power generation system in the state was completely devastated. We made efforts to improve it and eventually increase the power generation by establishing new units across the state,” said Rawat.
At the end of the video, he again said, “We will definitely come to power in 2022 and fulfil our promises of providing free electricity and water to residents of the state.”
The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said his promises were mere “bluff”.
“What he is saying just shows Congress’ desperation of coming to power. It is just a bluff and nothing else. But then nobody can stop anyone from daydreaming like Harish Rawat is doing,” Devendra Bhasin, BJP’s state unit vice-president, said.
