Atishi did not announce stopping of electricity subsidy in Delhi; edited video shared falsely

A video of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi is being circulated on social media against the backdrop of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. In the 34-second video, Atishi is apparently talking about ending electricity subsidies in Delhi. She says, “From today, the electricity subsidy for 4.6 million families in Delhi will stop. This means that starting tomorrow, the electricity bills that Delhi consumers receive will not include any subsidy. Those who used to get zero bills will start receiving increased bills from tomorrow. Those who used to get a 50% discount would also start receiving increased bills.”

The video is being shared with the claim that the free electricity scheme in Delhi has been discontinued. A user named Manoj Srivastava shared this video on May 23, and it received over 1,000 retweets (Archived link).

*लो भाई उतर गया बुखार* pic.twitter.com/az6kUwiVa4

— Manoj Srivastava (@ManojSr60583090) May 23, 2024

Several other users have shared the video with similar claims, BJP leader and actor Paresh Rawal among them, who wrote that this was bound to happen. Rawal later deleted his tweet, but an archived version of the post can be found here. It is worth noting that the actor-politician has been found sharing false information multiple times in the past.

Fact Check

Alt News observed that several users on X had described this video as incomplete. Based on this, we searched and found several media reports from April 2023 that provided detailed information on this matter. According to these reports, Atishi made these statements in the context of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena not approving a file related to the electricity subsidy. The Aam Aadmi Party’s X handle posted the full video related to this matter on April 14, 2023. The press conference video is 3 minutes and 21 seconds long.

The accompanying tweet read, “The LG has stopped Delhi’s free electricity‼️ 4.6 million families, farmers, lawyers, and 1984 riot victims will no longer receive free electricity. The LG has withheld the file related to Delhi Government’s electricity subsidy. Tata and BSES have written letters—if they don’t receive subsidy information, they will start billing.”

In the video posted here, Atishi says: “From today, the electricity subsidy for 4.6 million families in Delhi will stop. The subsidy that the elected government of Arvind Kejriwal provides to the people of Delhi, under which electricity up to 200 units is free, and electricity bills for 200-400 units are 50% subsidised, will stop from today. Lawyers, farmers, and 1984 riot victims receive this electricity subsidy. This means that starting tomorrow, the electricity bills that Delhi consumers receive will not include any subsidy. Those who used to get zero bills will start receiving increased bills from tomorrow. Those who used to get a 50% discount will also start receiving increased bills.”

Furthermore, Atishi also says, “Why has this subsidy stopped? This subsidy has stopped because the elected government of Delhi, led by Arvind Kejriwal, decided in the cabinet to continue the electricity subsidy for the coming year. The file for this subsidy has been withheld by the LG. Despite sending the file to the LG’s office, it has been retained there. Until the file returns from the LG’s office, the Arvind Kejriwal government cannot release the subsidy funds.”

We have indicated in bold the parts of the statement that are heard in the viral video. The rest o fthe statement has been left out/clipped. This makes it clear that the viral video has been edited and presented out of context.

While looking for updates on this matter, we came across a report from Dainik Bhaskar, which said that following accusations and counter-accusations between minister Atishi and the Lieutenant Governor, the latter approved the electricity subsidy file, ensuring that more than 4.6 million families in Delhi continued receiving the subsidy.

LG ने दिल्ली की मुफ़्त बिजली रोकी‼️

46 लाख परिवारों, किसानों, वकीलों और 1984 दंगा पीड़ितों को FREE Bijli मिलनी बंद हो जाएगी

Delhi Govt की बिजली Subsidy की File LG लेकर बैठ गए हैं

Tata, BSES ने चिट्ठी लिखी—उनके पास सब्सिडी की सूचना नहीं आई तो वो Billing शुरू करेंगे

—@AtishiAAP pic.twitter.com/O4ZN5y9wM6

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 14, 2023

To sum it up, the viral video of AAP leader Atishi has been edited and is being shared out of context.