Days after the AAP stormed to victory in Delhi, analysts of all hues are pointing to all the sins of omission and commission of the two national parties. What they are totally overlooking is something that’s staring at them in the nose: the AAP Manifesto, 2015. It’s truly a Manifesto of “Vows”, each so alluring to any gullible voter.

The vow of free water up to 700 litres a day along with the one of halving electricity bills of every Delhi household are the jewels of that Manifesto of Manifestos ever given in free India. From the poorest to the millionaire will vote for that kind of a lollipop, anywhere, any time. If the BJP and Congress faithfuls in Delhi didn’t lick it up; they must be considered either too dedicated to their party or just too naïve.

Apart from free water up to 700 litres a day and reduction of electricity bill by half, the70-point AAP manifesto also promised free Wi-Fi across Delhi, 1-1.5 million CCTV cameras for the safety of women, constructing 200,000 toilets, 500 government schools, 20 degree colleges and setting up 30,000 additional beds in government hospitals. There is also the promise to create 800,000 jobs, fill the 55,000 vacancies in the Delhi government and make Delhi a “start-up” hub by enhancing the ease of doing business. For traders, the party has also vowed the country’s lowest value-added tax (VAT). The division of Delhi’s 272 wards into about 3000 mohallah sabhas with an independent office for each with a staff of its own, the regularisation of colonies with a pucca house for each family, government’s guarantee, if needed, for education loans. The list is frankly too exhausting even to record.

Hence the billion dollar question is: can these honey pot of AAP promises be kept? 

Let’s take just two.

There is first the provision free water of 700 litres a day or 20 kilolitres a month to every household in Delhi.

According to the AAP Manifesto itself, Delhi today has 33.41 lakhs households of which 20 lakhs get the benefit of a piped water system. Another 10 lakh households do net get piped water and instead depend on sources like tankers, borewells, canals and ponds Therefore, over 13 lakh households must be considered to be left without any source of official, legal source of water — either because of no pipe system or, simply, because of water itself being in an acute short supply.

There is also the acknowledgement of acute shortage of water in all of Delhi except perhaps in the VIP areas. Further, a fair proportion of the existing pipe network is reportedly in need of repair and replacement. Lastly, there is the limited annual budget of Delhi standing at Rs 36,700 crores, a large chunk of which is consumed by salaries, periodic increase in Dearness Allowance, medical benefits, leave fare travel and pension.

How on earth then can water supply be first augmented to ensure that all the 33.41 lakh households are given water of 20 kilo litres a month in just five years of AAP’s government? Will AAP build a massive pipe from the Yamuna, filter it and distribute it? Or will it import it from Haryana or elsewhere?

And how will the water be made free? Will it be cross-subsidised (as feared but not revealed in the Manifesto) by charging exorbitant rates to those who consume quantum higher than 20 kilolitres a month? That would really play out the “Socialistic Republic” part of our Constitution’s Preamble.

Or, finally, will AAP secure donations from its friends in Dubai and Ford Foundation to finance the fulfillment of the entire project?

Take the other vow of halving the electricity of every Delhi household. Let it be noted that manifesto promises reduction of electricity bill by 50% is for every household, and not only for those consuming up to, say, 400 unit of electricity.

According to AAP’s own White Paper of January this year, the people of Delhi owed Rs 11,432 crores to the two major electricity distribution companies, BSES Rajdhani and Tata Power, with another Rs 1500 crores in the process of being approved by the Delhi Electricity Regulation Commission, which by law, is the final arbitrator on electricity tariff. With this accumulated burden of Rs 12, 932 crores, what will AAP’s route be to halve the existing electricity bills of every household?

The AAP has put its entire faith in the CAG audit of discom companies which, reportedly, is just completed. The AAP believes that all kinds of mischief and manipulations will be revealed in this audit and enable DERC to arrive at a much lower tariff than what exists today. Till then, AAP will subsidise the electricity consumers. But, once again, the party’s Manifesto conceals the audit time limit. What will happen if the CAG gives a clean chit to the accounting of the discom companies about their purchase price of electricity?  The Manifesto is mum.

A correspondent of a well-known pink newspaper has early in February this year conclusively proved that  AAP’s promise of reducing electricity bill of every household in Delhi by half is not deliverable. His arguments briefly are as follows:

(i) Power purchase accounts for 80% of the cost. Bulk Power Cost which companies like BSES Rajdhani pays to National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has moved from Rs 1.42 per unit in 2003 to Rs 5.71 per unit in 2013. Now, if cost of purchase of power for BSES itself is Rs 5.71 and the minimum billing amount is Rs 3.90, the company is naturally making losses on the lowest consumer, it is breaking even by charging Rs 5.8 for the next 200 units charged, while it makes profit only on the high consumers who are consuming over 412 units.

(ii) Admittedly, complaints have been heard of faulty meters running at break net speeds as they try to cross the 412 unit mark. And power bills can be reduced by replacing the faulty meters, but even that would not bring the tariff down too much and definitely not by 50%. If the purchase cost accounts for 80% of the total cost, even auditing and finding inflated costs by the distribution companies would not help bring down the final bill by 50%.

(iii) Irrespective of the cost, there is a small element of law. Power tariffs in Delhi are regulated by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and not by a political party. The rate fixed by them can either be rejected or accepted by the government of the state. In case if it rejects the rate, government will have to compensate the companies selling power.

In sum, the AAP Manifesto of 2015 is hazy, unreal. But if, as it has undoubtedly, brought it the Utopia of 67 seats of the 70 in Delhi, it raises a critical question. Has time come for a political party’s election manifesto to be put under scrutiny of the Election Commission? Should the EC not be empowered to scrutinise that vital document in detail before it is released to the voting public in our democracy? Such an eventuality removes a lot of fraudulent promises and result in political parties having their feet planted on reality rather than offering lollipops on colourful paper.