Free bus rides for women to continue for 5 yrs if AAP returns to power: Kejriwal

The AAP government's scheme for free rides for women in DTC buses and free electricity up to 200 units for Delhi'ites will continue for the next five years if the party returns to power, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.

He made the announcement at a function held here to lay the foundation of a 1,164-bed super-speciality hospital that will come up in Siraspur on G T Karnal Road.

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"All other parties keep criticising me that I give everything free to people. They say the government will run into losses. Now we have also made DTC bus rides free for women. The opposition party criticised us for this," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said.

He said his government "spent Rs 140 crore to make DTC bus rides free for women, while the chief minister of Gujarat has just bought a Rs 190-crore aircraft for his personal use".

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"I did not buy an airplane for myself... I waived the bus fare for our sisters. We have given free facilities to the people by saving on extravagant spending. We are providing 24-hour free electricity. Electricity bill of most people are coming out nil," he claimed.

"Each MP gets four thousand units of electricity free but when the poor get 200 units of electricity free, then these 'netas' have a problem," he said.

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"The opposition is saying that all these schemes will stop after the election. Today I am announcing that when our government returns to power, the free services will all continue even for the next five years. You will get 200 units of electricity free for the next five years," Kejriwal said.

Assembly election in Delhi is scheduled for early next year.

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