As the race to elect the new US President is heating up, Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris are trying to sway the voters in their favour. As you can imagine the intensity of the poll campaign and the poll promises worldwide remain on similar lines. One such poll promise by Donald Trump looks too familiar to the Indian audiences.
While speaking at a rally in Michigan, Trump said that he would reduce the electricity rates to half. "I will cut the price of ENERGY and ELECTRICITY in HALF within 12 months. We will seriously expedite our environmental approvals, and quickly double our electricity capacity. This will DRIVE DOWN INFLATION, and make AMERICA and MICHIGAN the best place on earth to build a factory," Trump said.
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The promise made by Trump looks eerily familiar to the Indian audiences as it was one of the poll campaigns of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which mentioned 'Bijli Half, Paani Maaf' during the 2020 Delhi assembly elections.
Taking note that Trump used a similar reference, AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal took a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. During multiple election campaigns, BJP and PM Modi had criticised the freebie culture or referred to promises of highly subsidised electricity fares as 'muft ki revri' referring to it as a gimmick.
Now, without naming anyone or any party, in a tweet former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal wrote: "Trump has announced that he will reduce electricity rates by half. Free ki revri reach US…"
Trump Criticizes India's High Tariffs
During the speech in Detroit, Donald Trump pledged to introduce a "reciprocal tax" if re-elected, citing India as one of the countries with the highest tariffs on foreign products. Trump emphasized the importance of reciprocity in his economic plan, claiming that while the US generally does not impose tariffs, other countries, including India, levy significantly higher tariffs on American goods.
"Perhaps the most important element of my plan to make America extraordinarily wealthy again is reciprocity," Trump said. He pointed out that countries like China and Brazil impose heavy tariffs on American products but singled out India as the highest charger of all.
"India is a very big charger. We have a great relationship with India, and especially with its leader, Modi. He’s a great leader, a great man. But they charge a lot," Trump said.