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Kejriwal cites inflation in response to PM Modi's ‘revdi’ culture remark: ‘Don’t insult public…’
PM Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed the ‘revdi’ or freebies political culture by saying that taxpayers are pained when they see the money collected from them are spent on “distribution of revdi (freebies)”.
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday launched a counterattack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his ‘revdi’ or freebies culture remark. Taking to Twitter, he tweeted a media report of a video where Modi talks about freebies during his virtual address while conducting the “grih pravesh” ceremony of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. “Politicians also get so many facilities for free. How many rich people got their bank loans waived off? Don't insult the public by repeatedly calling it revdi,” Kejriwal's tweet, roughly translated from Hindi, read.
The Delhi chief minister further asked that at a time when the public are quite worried about inflation, why they should not receive “free education, treatment, medicines and electricity”.
The prime minister on Saturday said that the PMAY housing scheme has emerged as a major instrument of socio-economic change in India, even as he lashed out at the political culture of ‘revdi’. Addressing as many as 4.51 lakh beneficiaries who received concrete houses under the PMAY in Satna, Modi said that today poor taxpayers in MP are also rejoicing during Diwali “the festival of light” as they got a “pukka house” and their “daughter's life will improve”.
“But when this taxpayer sees that the money (tax) collected from him is being spent on the distribution of revdi (freebies), he is pained,” he added.
The prime minister further stated that several taxpayers are “writing freely” o him, and that he is glad about a large section of the society resolving to rid the nation of “freebies”.
In the past as well, Modi had attacked the ‘revdi’ or freebies culture, targetting promises made by political parties ahead of elections. Kejriwal's AAP, which is contesting the forthcoming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, has promised 24x7 power supply and jobs, among others, in both states. The BJP is hoping to make a comeback in both the states.
