Neither electricity nor bill will come: U.P. Energy Minister on Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s free electricity announcement-OxBig News Network

Uttar Pradesh’s Energy and Urban Development Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma on Saturday (July 19, 2025) took a sarcastic jibe over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s announcement of free electricity for up to 125 units ahead of Vidhan Sabha elections, saying electricity will be free only when it would be supplied.

“Electricity is free in Bihar but it will be free only when it will be supplied… na bijli ayegi na bill ayega… free ho gayi. Hum bijli de rhe hain (Neither electricity will come nor will the bill come… it is free. We are providing electricity),” told Mr. Sharma in Mathura district when asked by reporters on free electricity up to 125 units in Bihar.

The Janata Dal (United), a leading ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar reacted sharply over Mr. Sharma’s comment calling it devoid of knowledge and ground reality. “It seems the U.P. Minister is not aware of ground reality, in Bihar electricity is available more than 22 hours for common people, it was our leader Nitish Kumar, who pleaded to not seek votes if failing to provide proper electricity to common people. Such irresponsible statement signifies the Minister lacks knowledge; he should visit border village of U.P. and Bihar to get the reality check about how Bihar progressed in each and every parameter of growth and development,” said Neeraj Kumar, Chief Spokesperson of JD(U) and Member of Bihar Legislative Council. 

In recent weeks, it is the second comment by Mr. Sharma, which is leading to backlash. Earlier, in Sultanpur on July 10, when locals complained to Mr. Sharma of power outages in the area, the Minister in the video remained unmoved and started chanting, “Jai Shri Ram, Jai Bajrang Bali” with folded hands. He then sat in his car and left the place. It led to an uproar. 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that every household in Bihar would get 125 units of electricity free of cost starting August 1.

Announcing the decision ahead of the state assembly elections in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on X said, “From the very beginning, we have been providing electricity to everyone at affordable rates. Now, we have decided that starting from August 1, 2025 — meaning from the July billing cycle — all domestic consumers in the state will not have to pay anything for up to 125 units of electricity,”.