Power tariff to be cut by half if Cong forms govt in UP: Sheila Dikshit

Saharanpur: Congress' chief ministerial candidate in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election Sheila Dikshit has said farmers' loans will be waived and power tariff will be cut by "half" if her party forms the government in the state.

Addressing the gathering at the reception ceremony of the party's '27 saal, UP behaal' campaign at Ashoka Palace in Rampur Maniharan here in the district, she blamed the SP, BSP and BJP for the "backwardness" of the state.

The former Delhi chief minister claimed that the state lagged behind during the 27 years of non-Congress rule.

"The roads as well as the law and order situation of the state are in a pathetic condition. The education system is shattered. There is no safety for anyone here.

"The sugar mills are being closed down. The farmers do not get paid. That is why Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said if the party comes to power, farmers' loans will be waived, the power tariff will be decreased by half and the farmers will be paid more," she said.

Dikshit said due to lack of employment opportunities, the youth of the state was migrating to big cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata as well as to other states.

Referring to the recent "feud" in Mulayam Singh Yadav's family, she claimed that the SP stood "exposed".

"It (the feud) shows that they (the Yadavs) are worried about their family and not the state," she alleged.

Speaking on the occasion, Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged that ever since the SP, BSP and BJP started ruling the state, they created divisions in the society.