India
oi-Prakash KL
Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the poll bugle in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday announced zero bill for users consuming up to 100 units of electricity per month in the state.
“After visiting the dearness relief camp and talking to the public, the feedback was that there should be a slight change in the slab-wise rebate in electricity bills. Feedback was also taken from the public regarding fuel surcharge in electricity bills in the month of May, on the basis of which But a major decision has been taken,” Gehlot said on Twitter.
He said that the first 100 units of electricity would be free and the consumers would have to pay a fixed variation per month for the next 100 units. However, all other charges will be waived off and will be paid by the state government, the Rajasthan chief minister said.
The scheme is similar to the Congress’s free electricity guarantee to the voters of Karnataka in the recently held elections. In the election manifesto, the grand old party had promised 200 units of free electricity to the people, however it is now facing hurdles in the implementation of the programme.
According to poll pundits, it was one of the promises that connected well with the voters. Looks like the Rajasthan Congress is trying to replicate the same in the poll-bound state.
In fact, the Congress borrowed the idea of free electricity from the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab.
However, Gehlot’s big announcement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress at a rally in Ajmer.
The PM said that the Congress has a new guarantee formula, which will make the country ‘bankrupt’. This ‘guarantee habit’ of Congress is not new, it is old. 50 years ago, the Congress had given a guarantee of ‘garibi hatao’ to the country. This is the biggest betrayal of the Congress party with the poor. Poor. The people of Rajasthan have had to bear the brunt of this,” the Prime Minister said at a rally in Rajasthan’s Ajmer.
On the other hand, this is the second major announcement from Gehlot before the elections this year. In January, he announced that Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries in Rajasthan would get an LPG cylinder for Rs 500.