Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal hit out at Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s warning about the ‘revdi’ or freebie culture in the country’s politics on Saturday (July 16) stating that free water, electricity, healthcare and world-class education are the responsibility of the state. It is not ‘revdis’ (north Indian snack) or freebies offered by the governments ahead of elections.
Earlier in the day, the PM Modi, while inaugurating the ₹15,000 crore Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh, had warned against what he called the ‘revdi’ culture of offering freebies for votes gaining ground in the country and said this is “very dangerous”.
“In our country today, attempts are being made to bring a culture of garnering votes by distributing ‘revdis’. This ‘revdi culture’ is very dangerous for the development of the country,” said PM Modi, adding that people, especially the youth, need to guard against this culture.
Kejriwal came out with a rebuttal on the same day. Indirectly slamming PM Modi, he said that free revdis has to do with a “big company that took loans from many banks and did not repay.” “Banks went bankrupt. That company paid up to the ruling party and faced no action. This is free revdi,” pointed out the Delhi CM.
To him, free revdi is when you forgive thousands of crores in loans for your friends. And, when you go for foreign trips, and seek contracts for your friends, that is free revdi, he asserted.
Gagan, the son of a worker who lost his ₹15,000-a-month job during the lockdown, has managed to get admission at IIT Dhanbad in computer engineering, said Kejriwal. “Ask him if Kejriwal is handing out free revdis or building the future of this country,” he added, making a point about AAP’s focus on improving the capital’s public schools.
Also read: Offering freebies for votes ‘very dangerous’ for country: PM Modi
His government has turned around the capital’s government hospitals and built amazing mohalla clinics, he declared, adding that Delhi is the only megacity in the world where each of the two crore people can get free treatment. The medical treatment also includes surgeries that cost to ₹30 or 40 or 50 lakh.
Kejriwal said that for those people who asked him why they were giving free units of electricity in 200 units Delhi and 300 units in Punjab, he would like to ask how many units of free electricity do they give your ministers? “4,000? 5,000?” he asked.
To those who abused him for making bus rides free for women, he said they were the same people who have spent thousands of crores on private jets. Further, he detailed the benefits that people get under the Delhi government’s ‘Farishtey Scheme’, which pays for the treatment of an accident victim at any hospital (“13,000 lives have been saved so far”); free yoga classes (“17,000 people are enjoying this facility”); free pilgrimages to Ayodhya, Haridwar and more.
“Despite making so many things free, Delhi has a budget surplus. What’s wrong in ending corruption and using that money to help the public?” he asked.
Earlier in the day, Modi had said that people think they will buy out people by distributing free revdi. “Have to remove ‘revdi culture’ from the country’s politics,” PM Modi said without taking any names.