Do not insult common man by referring to facilities as 'revadi': Kejriwal to PM Modi

Kejriwal tweeted a media report in which PM Modi had slammed the political culture of 'revadi' or freebies

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi under his line of fire for his remarks on freebies, saying the common people who are worried due to inflation should not be insulted.

Tagging a news report in which Modi slammed the political culture of "revadi", Kejriwal said people are quite worried due to the price rise.

"Why should they not get free education, treatment, medicines and electricity? Politicians get so many facilities for free. Banks waived the loans of so many rich people. By calling it free revadi again and again, do not insult the common man," the Chief Minister tweeted.

On Saturday, Modi slammed the freebie culture in his address after virtually conducting the "grih pravesh" ceremony of 4.51 lakh beneficiaries of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.

"Every taxpayer must be thinking that as I celebrate Diwali, the poor brothers in Madhya Pradesh too are rejoicing during the festival of lights. He is getting a pukka house. His daughter's life will improve. But when this taxpayer sees that the money collected from him is being spent on the distribution of revadi, he is pained," Modi said.

Also Read | CAG looks for ways to 'red-flag' freebie culture

Credit: Twitter/@ArvindKejriwal

Modi has of late picked up the issue regularly and questioned why freebies are announced by parties. This was opposed by several Opposition parties saying welfare programmes should not be targeted this way.

The Prime Minister's attack on freebies was also read in a section as his attempt to corner the AAP which is aggressively campaigning in Gujarat ahead of Assembly elections.

Apparently taking a cue from the Prime Minister, the Election Commission has also sought the opinion of political parties for amending the Model Code of Conduct to provide standardised disclosures by parties on the financial viability of manifesto promises.

The Election Commission has also expressed its opinion against parties announcing freebies while the Comptroller and Auditor General is learnt to have initiated a process to audit such programmes.