Trump has announced that he will reduce electricity rates by half. Free ki revri reach US… https://t.co/IHxQ4AhXcA
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 11, 2024
As the US elections near, presidential candidates have upped their political campaigns to woo voters. As a part of his pitch during an election campaign rally in Michigan, Trump announced that he would reduce the prices of energy and electricity through the means of capacity expansion. He added that under him, the government would expedite environmental approvals and increase electricity production by over 100 per cent.
“I will cut the ENERGY and ELECTRICITY price 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.
But for Kejriwal, a reduction in electricity prices is equivalent to “free ki revri” or “freebies” being granted to the public. Trump clearly enunciated that he plans to reduce the electricity rates by achieving capacity expansion and doubling electricity production. Among the best practices followed by top companies around the world is expanding capacities to reduce costs. By scaling up production capacities, companies stand to benefit from economies of scale and could, therefore, provide the same services or products to their customers at a lower cost.
However, despite being an IIT graduate, such elementary economics concepts elude Kejriwal, possibly because he is in desperate pursuit of finding a credible validation for his government’s ‘Freebie model’ implemented in Delhi. To this end, even though Trump talked about reducing electricity rates and not bringing them down to zero, Kejriwal interpreted it as “free ki revri” and patted himself on the back.
Kejriwal and even other AAP leaders, including Raghav Chadha, a Chartered Accountant by profession, couldn’t stop themselves from jumping on the bandwagon and co-opting Trump’s election promises to shore up the falling popular support to the Delhi government.
“Trump’s 50% off on electricity bills shows how @ArvindKejriwal has set the benchmark for governance globally! His governance model—affordable electricity, free water, quality healthcare, and free world-class education—is a shining example of welfarism done right. The world takes notice,” Raghav’s tweet read.
Trump’s 50% off on electricity bills shows how @ArvindKejriwal has set the benchmark for governance globally! His governance model—affordable electricity, free water, quality healthcare, and free world class education—is a shining example of welfarism done right. The world takes… https://t.co/4Z1nKkdnc0
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) October 11, 2024
It is worth noting that while Kejriwal and Chadha are busy hailing Trump’s announcement as an endorsement of the Delhi governance model, the comparison between Delhi and the United States is misleading and erroneous, given that several factors differentiate one from the other. For instance, the United States is a country three times the size of India while Delhi is just a tiny Union Territory. The United States is far more resourceful and wealthier than Delhi, rendering the comparison between the two fallacious and farcical. The US can afford to offer subsidies for electricity consumption, while Delhi is for the first time, in 31 years, going to slip into a revenue deficit thanks to disastrous economic policies formulated and implemented by the Aam Aadmi Party government.
The city’s finances could fall into deficit for the first time by the end of 2024-25, as its expenditures are expected to surpass its receipts, according to a recent report from the finance department to the Chief Minister. Delhi’s revenues — which include tax revenue, non-tax revenue, receipts from centrally sponsored schemes, and grants from the central government — are forecasted to decline from the budgeted Rs 64,142 crore to Rs 62,415 crore by the end of FY25.
At the same time, revenue expenditure is projected to increase from Rs 60,911 crore to Rs 63,911 crore. Moreover, an additional Rs 7,000 crore will be needed for various capital projects that were not included in the budget. Officials noted that Delhi has historically maintained a revenue surplus, and this would be the first instance of a deficit since the legislative assembly was reconstituted in 1993.
Even though its economy is in dire straits, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is still boasting about the United States ‘following’ Delhi’s ‘Freebie’ model of governance. Clearly, with the Delhi elections due in the next few months, Kejriwal and his lieutenants have begun gaslighting the public into believing that their ill-conceived policy decisions now have international takers.
