Delhi Chief Minister & AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his jab at free-rider politics over "revdi culture."
On Saturday, during the inauguration of the Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi said, "People in our nation need to be extremely vigilant, especially the youth. Revdi culture adherents won't ever construct new expressways, airports, or defence corridors for you. These proponents of the revdi culture believe they can control the populace by providing free revdi. We must all work together to dismantle their way of thought and eradicate the revdi culture from national politics.
Giving the people free, high-quality services, according to Kejriwal, is not a free revdi. He said that granting select ministers and corporations unauthorised perks was part of providing free revdi.
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said, "To give free and good education to the children of our country and to provide good and free treatment to the people is not distributing free revdi. We are laying the foundation of a developed and proud India. This work should have been done 75 years ago."
"There are claims made against me that Kejriwal is disrupting free revdis and giving out freebies. People are mistreating and making fun of me. What am I doing incorrectly, I would want to ask the people of the nation? The Delhi children of lower- and middle-class families receive free, high-quality education because of us. I want to ask people, am I disturbing free revdis or laying the cornerstone for the nation?" he said.
"There are presently 18 lakh pupils attending government schools in Delhi. Before this, their future remained uncertain. What crime am I doing today if we have given them a bright future and if I am giving them free, high-quality education? In Delhi government schools, there was a 99 percent pass rate for the first time in the previous 75 years," Kejriwal said.
He said that this job ought to have been completed in 1947 or 1950. "This isn't free revdi, you know. We are laying the cornerstone for our nation. We opened mohalla clinics that are well-known across the nation and improved the state of Delhi's government hospitals. Will this be called as offering free revdis?" he questioned.
"Under the Farishtay programme, if someone accompanies someone who has met with an accident to the hospital, their medical care is provided free of charge... Over 13 lakh lives have been saved because of us. Ask them whether Kejriwal is providing free revdis or engaging in admirable activity," Kejriwal urged.
He also addressed the criticism of the AAP's free electricity programme: "People ask why Kejriwal gives away free electricity. How much free electricity do your ministers receive, is what I want to know from them. It's acceptable as long as you and your ministers receive 4,000–5,000 free electrical units. However, you'll run into a lot of issues if I offer the poor 200–300 units of free electricity."
The Delhi government's free yoga courses, free bus rides for women, and free pilgrimage programmes were all listed by Kejriwal, who said that none of them could be compared to "free revdis."
"Those who are assaulting me have bought themselves private jets for thousands of crores. Kejriwal does not purchase aircraft. He saves that cash and gives mothers and sisters free bus rides. What is Kejriwal doing wrong?" he questioned.
"The Delhi budget is now operating in the black despite offering so many items for free. I'm not suggesting this; the CAG report was just released a few days ago. They claim that since the Kejriwal government took office in 2015, Delhi's budget has been operating profitably, as opposed to its prior state of loss," he added.
"Let me explain what free revdi is. A sizable business obtained loans from many banks. The loan is gone and the banks went bankrupt. That company gave one political party donation of a few crores and no action was taken by the government against this company. This is free revdi,” he said.
"You receive free revdi when you forgive thousands of crores in debts from your pals. Free revdi occurs when someone travels abroad and then uses that reason to arrange business deals for a handful of their cronies with foreign governments," Kejriwal said.
Politics of integrity and politics of corruption, he claimed, are the two types of politics currently in use in the nation. He said that the AAP was conserving money and utilising it to benefit the people, as opposed to the latter, which included signing contracts for thousands of crores of rupees in order to gain money.
“They give all the conveniences to their ministers but if the people ask for it, they say these are freebies and free revdi is being distributed… Today, the people and country need to decide if they want politics of integrity or corruption,” he said.