BJP will give five times more relief to electricity consumers if voted to power in Delhi: Manoj Tiwari

He also questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about his treatment expenditure and why did he not get himself treated at a mohalla clinic.

New Delhi: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Monday said his party would give five times more relief to electricity and water consumers than the AAP government, if voted to power in the national capital.

He also questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about his treatment expenditure and why did he not get himself treated at a mohalla clinic.

According to a reply to an RTI application filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), after coming to power in Delhi in 2015, Kejriwal had spent Rs 12,18,027 on treatment in private hospitals, which was paid by the general administration department of the Delhi government, Tiwari said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had spent Rs 13,25,329 on medical treatment for himself and his family members and ministers Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain had spent Rs 7,22,558 and Rs 2,46,748 on medical treatment respectively, he claimed.

“Why does Kejriwal not provide the real information about the facilities in the mohalla clinics and hospitals of the Delhi government, on which he issues costly advertisements?

“If you do not trust the medical services of your government, why are you leaving people at their mercy? It clearly shows that the AAP government has completely failed,” Tiwari told reporters.

Reacting to the allegations, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said Kejriwal’s cough was a known medical condition, for which he travelled to Bengaluru for naturopathy.

On the allegation that party leaders did not go to mohalla clinics for treatment, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said such facilities were essentially primary health centres.

“A family member of the deputy chief minister is going through a serious medical condition and I expect my friends in the media to be sensitive towards his privacy,” he said.

“Manojji is bringing the level of politics to a new low. Anybody could have asked about the bills of at least three senior BJP leaders, who got treated abroad for kidney replacement and other major surgeries on government expenses in the last one year. Some of them are no more with us, but we wish they could have been saved,” Bhardwaj said.

Tiwari said the information received through the RTI application had proved that if the medical care provided by the mohalla clinics and Delhi government hospitals was reliable, Kejriwal, his cabinet colleagues and their family members would not have gone to private hospitals for treatment.

“The people of Delhi will never forgive the chief minister for playing with their health,” the BJP leader said.

Tiwari was also asked whether his party was in favour of announcing subsidies for water and electricity consumers.

“The BJP is not against subsidies. In fact, if we come to power, we will give five times more relief to water and electricity consumers,” he said.

In an interview to a newspaper, Delhi BJP leader Vijay Goel had said, “The BJP will not give subsidies, but create such an environment that electricity will be cheaper.”

Kejriwal thanked the BJP on Sunday for making its intentions clear that it would withdraw the electricity subsidy announced by his government if voted to power in Delhi, saying it would give a chance to people to choose between “two conflicting models”.

Subsequently, Goel said once the saffron party came to power in Delhi, it would provide electricity at cheaper rates than the AAP government.

However, Tiwari clarified that the BJP was not against subsidies.

Source: PTI