AAP national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a big announcement ahead of the assembly elections. Alleging that something wrong was done resulting in water bills worth lakhs, Kejriwal said that those who have received huge bills for water supply and feel that the bills were generated wrong can refuse to pay.
"Our government in Delhi has been providing free water to people for the last 10 years. More than 12 lakh families get zero water bills. But after I went to jail, I don't know what these people did. They did something wrong and people started getting water bills of thousands and lakhs of rupees every month," Kejriwal said.
He added: "I want to publicly and officially announce that those who think their bills are wrong, need not pay their water bills; they should wait. AAP will form the government after the Delhi elections and we shall get their bills waived. This is my promise to all residents of Delhi; this is my guarantee..."
The Delhi government offers 20,000 litres of water for free every month to each household. The scheme is likely to be replicated as a poll promise by the BJP in its manifesto, if party sources are to be believed.
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Earlier, too, Kejriwal had made similar announcements. Kejriwal was released on Bail on September 13 last year and he resigned from the CM's post three days later. In October, he acknowledged that officials had messed up the free water scheme and sent people inflated bills. He then promised to waive the inflated bills for water as well as electricity if AAP won the assembly election again. He reiterated his promise in November and December.