Kejriwal asks people not to pay inflated bills

On the second day of his indefinite fast against inflated power bills, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday made the electoral aspect of his campaign clear by stating that he had launched his ‘civil disobedience movement’ from Nand Nagri, a low-income group resettlement colony in North-East Delhi, because politics begins from the ground.

“On day one itself 36,743 citizens of Delhi had signed the letter to Sheila Dikshit that they would not pay the inflated water and electricity bills. Today, AAP volunteers went house to house and thousands more are signing and readily joining the civil disobedience movement,” said an AAP statement issued on Sunday.

The party also claimed to have received support from a section of engineers of power boards.

While starting his “civil disobedience” movement, as he put it, Mr. Kejriwal urged the residents of the National Capital not to pay their power bills.

‘Govt. hand-in-glove with discoms’

Mr. Kejriwal also termed as a ‘hoax’ the claim of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that discoms had incurred loss worth thousands of crores. He said the poblem was that for the Government the interest of common public was not the priority because it was hand-in-glove with the power companies. “The increase in the tariffs of electricity and water was due to corruption and the documents have already been presented in the public domain, which prove corrupt practices. Sheila Dikshit has nexus with electricity and water companies and it has been proved earlier also in front of the public,” he said.

While emphasising the purpose of his fast, he said he wanted people to come together against the corrupt practices of the Delhi Government. Invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle against the British colonial rulers of India, Mr. Kejriwal said that his struggle was also aimed at uniting the citizens of Delhi against the anti-people policies of the Government.

In an attempt to gauge people’s mood towards his campaign, Mr. Kejriwal also declared, “When I will see a significant number of people not paying their water and electricity tariffs, I will call off the indefinite fast.”