Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s indefinite fast urging people not to pay “inflated” power and water bills entered the third day but the turnout remained ruefully low.
However, undeterred by thin attendance, he said real work is to reach out to people and not large numbers at the protest venue. Kejriwal said he was in good shape and there is no concern about his health.
“Crowd is not needed at the protest spot. The work of volunteers and people who agreed with the movement was to spread out to every corner of the city to urge people to rise and revolt against the injustice of unfairly hiked water and electricity rates,” he said.
Kejriwal began his fast on Saturday in Sunder Nagri in east Delhi. The house owner had to borrow money to pay his water and electric bills. However, the movement led by Kejriwal has vitally turned into a flop show and he has been struggling to garner support this time from people since the beginning.
Meanwhile, AAP claimed on Monday total of 1.12 lakh people have expressed their support for Kejriwal’s Civil Disobedience Movement. On Monday, He began his speech with the assurance that his health was fine, and that he was ready for a long haul.
“75,737 more protest letters to Sheila Dikshit were signed on Sunday taking the final count to 1,12,478. Through the letters people are urging the Chief Minister to put a stop to corruption and hence spiralling prices of basic commodities like water and electricity which is burning a hole in the pockets of common man,” it said.
Claiming that there is discrepancy in the government’s versions about whether the discoms are making profit or running in losses, he said, “While lt Governor Tejendra Khanna says the discoms have made a profit of Rs 30,000 crore, the Delhi Government claims they have made losses amounting to Rs 20,000 crore!”