‘Don’t insult common man by terming basic amenities rewri’

 ‘Don’t insult common man by terming basic amenities rewri’

AAP chief takes to Twitter to respond to Prime Minister’s comment that ‘culture of giving freebies’ saddens taxpayers. He asks why people, who are worried about inflation, should not receive access to free education, healthcare and electricity

AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that providing free education and healthcare doesn’t amount to distributing freebies, “it is an effort to make India No. 1”. File photo

The Hindu Bureau New Delhi

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday questioned why people, who are worried about inflation, should not receive access to free education, healthcare and electricity. He added that the common man should not be insulted by terming such basic amenities ‘rewri’ or freebies.

Mr. Kejriwal’s remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the political culture of giving “rewri” in his virtual address at the griha pravesh (house-warming) ceremony for 4.51 lakh beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district on Saturday.

“Now that I am giving away these four lakh houses, taxpayers in the country must be thinking that a poor brother in Madhya Pradesh will also get to celebrate Deepavali like them. He is getting a pukka house due to which his daughter’s life will improve. But when a taxpayer sees that the money taken from him is being spent to distribute ‘rewri’, he is pained,” Mr. Modi had said.

The Prime Minister added that many disgruntled taxpayers were writing letters to him expressing concern over the “rewri culture”. “I am glad that a big section of society has resolved to free the country of freebies,” he had said.

Mr. Kejriwal tweeted a media report on the Prime Minister’s comments and in a post in Hindi said: “People are quite worried due to price rise. Why should they not get free education, healthcare, medicines and electricity? Even politicians receive so many facilities for free. So many rich people have got their loans waived by banks. Do not insult the common man by repeatedly calling such facilities free ‘rewri’.”

The political war of words over freebies broke out on July 16 when Mr. Modi used the term “rewri culture” for the first time while inaugurating the Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh. He warned that the culture of distributing freebies for votes would take the country towards darkness. He termed it “very dangerous” for the development and well-being of the country.

Kejriwal’s riposte

In a riposte, Mr. Kejriwal had said providing free education and healthcare doesn’t amount to distributing freebies, “it is an effort to make India No. 1”.

In the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly election, several BJP leaders have attacked AAP by equating State-sponsored free schemes to citizens with the ‘rewri culture’.

Last month, the AAP government in Delhi announced that its flagship scheme of providing subsidy on domestic power bills would continue only on an opt-in basis from October 1. The decision, Mr. Kejriwal said, was based on public demand. However, the Opposition BJP accused the Delhi Chief Minister of making a U-turn on one of AAP’s major poll promises after having exhausted the city’s finances.