Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swipe at parties offering freebies for votes drew a sharp reaction from AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal who alleged that those dishing out loan waivers and work tenders to friends were the ones promoting the "revadi culture" and not those who were providing free healthcare, education and electricity on Saturday.
At an event in Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh, the prime minister used 'revadi', a popular north Indian sweet often distributed during festivals, as a metaphor for freebies being promised by various parties to grab power and said the people, especially the youth should guard against this as it is dangerous for the development of the country.
Hitting back, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, whose party has often promised a slew of freebies to woo voters, said his government's schemes for free education, healthcare and electricity were not "freebies" but efforts to lay the foundation for making India the number one country in the world. He said education and health services will be free for all in the country if, by God's will, he is in a position to do so.
Without naming anyone, Kejriwal said, "I will tell you who is distributing 'revadis' and giving freebies. This waiving of friends' loans worth thousands of crores and getting contracts worth thousands of crores from foreign tours for friends are giving freebies."
The Congress and other opposition parties have been accusing the Modi government of favouring a few corporate, a charge rejected by the ruling dispensation. If incentives for the poor are 'revadi', then what will you call the loan waivers of lakhs and crores of rupees for the corporates, Bhartiya Tribal Party leader and Gujarat MLA Chhotubhai Vasava said on Twitter.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also waded into the issue, saying the rulers doling out "revadis as a thank you" should instead provide jobs to the youths. "Those in power, who run a thank you campaign by distributing 'revadis', if they provide jobs to the youths, then they can save from the blame-game. Is the word 'revadi' unparliamentary," Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.
Modi, in his speech, said those indulging in "revadi culture" will never make new expressways, airports and defence corridors. "In our country today, attempts are being made to bring a culture of garnering votes by distributing 'revadis'. This 'revadi culture' is very dangerous for the development of the country. People of the country, especially the youth, need to guard against this culture," Modi said.
"The 'revadi culture' people think they will buy voters by distributing free 'revadis'. We have to jointly defeat this thinking of theirs. We have to remove the 'revadi culture' from the country's politics," Modi said without taking any names.
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