Agencies/New Delhi


Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday vowed to provide round-the-clock electricity for

New Delhi as he kicked off his party’s campaign in elections to the state assembly.
Delhi has an unenviable reputation both for blackouts and as one of the world’s most

polluted capitals, with diesel fumes from back-up generators adding to the cocktail of

smog that regularly blankets the city.
But in a speech to supporters of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the prime minister said

he would soon make generators redundant.
“I promise that I will provide you with a 24-hour supply of electricity,” said Modi who

came to power after a landslide general election win in May.
Although the situation has improved since an infamous summer of city-wide blackouts in

2012, the Indian capital is still regularly hit by localised power cuts that are seen as

hampering economic growth.
India’s energy sector is almost entirely state-run and recent moves by the BJP government

to open up part of the coal sector to private firms prompted a strike earlier this week.
During his rally, Modi indicated that he wanted to bring in competition into the

electricity sector.
“We will introduce a system where you can choose who you want to buy your electricity

from, you can select your own service provider in the same way you choose your phone’s

network provider,” said Modi.
Delhi, a city-state of some 17mn people, has been without a proper government since last

February, when firebrand anti-corruption campaigner Arvind Kejriwal quit as chief minister

just 49 days after taking power.
While Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party flopped in the general election, he again represents the

major obstacle to the BJP’s electoral hopes.
The BJP’s failure to win control of the Delhi assembly last time round was a major shock

and Modi made Kejriwal the main target of his invective, calling the self-styled anarchist

a liar and “backstabber.”
Modi said “if anarchy has to be practised, (he should) join Naxalites (Maoists) in

jungles. The prime minister wondered if people had seen a politician who spoke such

language.
“Anarchy cannot prevail in Delhi. It (Delhi) should have a sense of pride,” Modi said.
He sought the people’s support for a “new” Delhi and a “strong, stable” government.
But the former tax inspector hit back hours later, calling the BJP “a sinking ship without

a captain.”
“I can see that the BJP is very nervous. It has no positive agenda for the Delhi

elections,” added Kejriwal, who has voiced regret over his decision to quit in February in

a spat over the establishment of an anti-corruption commission.
Addressing the same rally, BJP president Amit Shah said the prices of essential

commodities have come down ever since Modi became prime minister, and households are

saving from Rs1,500 to Rs4,500 monthly.
Shah said: “The AAP has set a record of lying and no one can defeat them in that aspect.”
He said when the AAP formed the government in Delhi, its leaders travelled by the Metro

train to reach Ramlila Maidan to take oath. “Do they still travel by Metro?” Shah asked.
He said every party promised to regularise Delhi’s unauthorised colonies, but the actual

work was done by the Modi government by making a law.
The federal cabinet recently approved an ordinance to regularise the unauthorised

colonies. A total of 895 unauthorised colonies, which came up in Delhi till June 1, 2014,

would be regularised.
“We are working on the promises made to the people. Some of them have been implemented. In

some cases, they are in the process of being carried out, and for others, a road map has

been drawn for their implementation,” he added.