New Delhi:
Kejriwal said Delhiites were suffering amid soaring temperatures touching nearly 45 degrees Celsius while the current BJP government was “sleeping”.
“Amid the severe 45 degrees Celsius heat, power cuts are taking place across Delhi. Delhiites are suffering. Electricity is going off at any moment. Social media is flooded with complaints, but the BJP government is sleeping,” Kejriwal said in a post on X.
The AamAadmi Party (AAP) leader claimed that during his government’s tenure, residents had virtually forgotten about power cuts because of improved electricity management.
“In AAP’s time, inverters had stopped selling,” he said, adding that the BJP had pushed Delhi “back by 15 years” after coming to power.
The remarks came as several parts of Delhi continued to witness extreme heat conditions, leading to a sharp rise in electricity demand due to heavy usage of air-conditioners, coolers and other appliances.
Responding to Kejriwal’s allegations, Delhi BJP president VirendraSachdeva rejected the claims and termed them “100 per cent false”.
“The purpose of this post is only to mislead the people of Delhi and Punjab. Today, in the afternoon, Delhi’s electricity demand reached approximately 8,039 megawatts, which was successfully met by the power discoms,” Sachdeva said.
He asserted that no scheduled power cuts had been imposed anywhere in Delhi over the last two days and maintained that any isolated local faults were resolved quickly by power distribution companies.
Officials said electricity demand in Delhi has been rising steadily due to the intense heatwave conditions prevailing across north India. Power utilities have been operating under high-load conditions to ensure uninterrupted supply during peak evening and afternoon hours.
The political exchange has further intensified the confrontation between the AAP and BJP over governance and civic management in the capital following the change in administration earlier this year.