War of words erupted between the Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday after Leader of Opposition in Assembly Atishi accused the ruling BJP Government of failing to manage the power supply in the national Capital.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi claimed that Delhi is facing unprecedented power cuts after 10 years of uninterrupted electricity, exposing the BJP Government’s incompetence.
“It’s been just one month since BJP came to power, yet four to eight-hour-long power cuts have become daily routine across different parts of Delhi. The national Capital had uninterrupted 24-hour electricity for 10 years under AAP Government, but as soon as BJP took over, system collapsed because they simply do not know how to govern,” she said.
Hitting back at Atishi, Delhi BJP president, Virendra Sachdeva said that she should understand that Delhi is the capital of the country.
“If Delhi gets 24-hour electricity supply, it is not an extraordinary achievement. BJP-ruled cities like Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bangalore, and many others already have uninterrupted electricity supply. Uttar Pradesh, which until 2017-18 was considered a state with poor electricity production and supply, today shines with good power supply. BJP leaders do not boast about good electricity supply in their States, because providing 24-hour electricity is a Government’s duty, not a favour to the public,” said Sachdeva.
The Delhi BJP chief further stated that the impressive power supply that Atishi is talking about was actually laid down in 2014 during President’s Rule in Delhi, when the then Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, presented the Delhi Budget in Parliament.
“Delhiites clearly remember Arun Jaitley’s Budget speech, in which he mentioned the poor state of Delhi’s electricity supply and emphasised investments in electricity infrastructure. The Central Government allocated `675 crore for new power plants and `200 crore for strengthening power transformers and wires in Delhi,” he said.
Referring to the previous AAP Government’s regime, she said, “Before the AAP Government came to power, long power cuts were normal in the national Capital. Every household used to have inverters. But after Arvind Kejriwal became the Chief Minister in February 2015, Delhi received round-the-clock power supply.”
“The people of Delhi do not need data because they know that for the past 10 years, their inverters were unused, and they didn’t have to change batteries. But now, after the BJP formed the Government in the city, power cuts are on the rise,” she said.
Atishi reminded citizens of the pre-2014 era, when long power outages were the norm, and warned that history is repeating itself under BJP’s rule. She revealed that instead of addressing the crisis, BJP ministers are more focused on finding ways to “make money.”
In contrast, she highlighted that under the AAP Government, Delhi had the best power system in the country, a fact even acknowledged by the BJP-led central Government.
Sachdeva added that apart from this, private companies involved in power distribution also made efforts to improve power production and supply.
“However, it is unfortunate that the Arvind Kejriwal Government, between 2015 and 2025, has only been involved in corruption under the guise of electricity supply,” said Sachdeva.
The Delhi BJP president also questioned Atishi whether it is not true that while showcasing 24-hour electricity supply in Delhi, the then Kejriwal Government colluded with private companies to engage in electricity subsidy and PPA scams.
