Chandigarh, October 22: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Thursday claimed that if the Congress formed the government in Punjab after the 2027 Assembly elections, it could discontinue free electricity, the Rs 10 lakh Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna health cover and financial assistance for women. This is Arora's political claim — the Congress has not announced any such decision.
Source: Top Indian News
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Arora said he was reacting to remarks by Congress MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring about restricting electricity subsidies and financial assistance for women. Arora alleged that a Congress government could also bring back toll plazas and increase electricity and canal water charges, and he challenged Congress leaders to clarify whether the existing welfare schemes would continue if the party returned to power.
Arora questioned who would decide which households qualified for electricity subsidies and which women remained eligible for financial assistance — Warring, or senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa. He also challenged Congress MPs, MLAs and former ministers to voluntarily surrender subsidies they believed should be reserved for people who genuinely needed assistance.
Citing the Congress's past record, Arora said that when Captain Amarinder Singh led the Congress government after 2002, free electricity for farmers had been discontinued and restored about two-and-a-half years later — a claim he used to argue that the party's election promises should be judged against its record in government.
The other side: in the reports checked by Awaaz Punjab, the Congress had not issued any official clarification on Arora's claim by the time of publishing, and no Congress document or statement announcing an end to these subsidies was found. Jange Samachar, reporting the same claim, noted it should be seen as Arora's political claim. Awaaz Punjab is presenting this strictly as an AAP allegation in the 2027 campaign, not as a Congress decision.
Source: Jange Samachar