The electricity bill at Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal’s Civil lines house has jumped from around 50,000 per month in April and May to over Rs1,36,000 in June.
The Civil lines has two meters and the latest bills for the meters in June are Rs1,13,598 and Rs22,689 making the total bill to Rs1,36,288. The CM’s bungalow has two connections of sanctioned load of 34 kilowatt and 22 kilowatt respectively for the two floors.
It was earlier reported that the electricity bill of the CM’s residence was about Rs91,000 for April and May. Responding to the report, the Government had said Rs91,000 power bill was not CM’s personal expenditure, and that a large part of the expenses had been incurred from the facilities installed at 6, Flag Staff Road bungalow to enable him to work from home.
In a scathing letter written to the CM, Congress leader Pratyush Kanth, who had contested from Kirari Assembly seat, said his latest bill reflects that he made the people of Delhi pay Rs56,000 for the month of May and Rs48,000 for the month of April, and that now it has jumped to over Rs1.36 lakh.
Alleging that the huge jump in power bill is due to 35 ACs installed in CM’s residence, Kanth said, “It is high time that the CM should walk the talk… Immediately after taking over as the CM, your well-oiled publicity department had convinced most of the newspapers and TV channels to carry the story that you will not use air conditioners and
will save every penny of the citizens of Delhi.”
He further alleged that Kejriwal’s whole politics is based on lies. “You said that your Ministers will not use official cars. Forget that, you have given key jobs to hundreds of AAP workers with all kind of facilities, including Government quarters, cars, cell phones and more that we the people of Delhi are being made to pay for,” he said, adding that to feel the pain of the people of Delhi, “You have to switch-off the air conditioners of your plush 5,000 sq mts house and step out in the heat and dust.”
Incidentally, it was reported in March that the CM had asked for all air conditioners to be removed from his residence. However, the Public Works Department (PWD) had reportedly turned down his request. And they had said if Kejriwal wanted then the connections for the ACs could be disconnected or that he could simply not use it.