- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (16) slammed those political parties of the country that resort to distributing “free revdi” (sweets) and said such culture needs to be eliminated from the country’s politics.
The ‘free revdi‘ culture in India implies the electoral freebies that political parties often dole out to gain votes in times of elections.
His remarks came while addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the Bundelkhand Expressway in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“This revdi culture is very dangerous for the development of the country. Those with revdi culture will never build new expressways, new airports or defence corridors for you. Together we have to defeat this thinking, remove revdi culture from the politics of the country,” Modi said.
हमारे देश में मुफ्त की रेवड़ी बांटकर वोट बटोरने का कल्चर लाने की कोशिश हो रही है।
ये रेवड़ी कल्चर देश के विकास के लिए बहुत घातक है।
इस रेवड़ी कल्चर से देश के लोगों को बहुत सावधान रहना है: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 16, 2022
The prime minister said despite having governments in New Delhi and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has not resorted to “shortcuts of distributing the free revdi“, but “working hard to improve the future of the state”.
While Modi slammed the opposition in general, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the chief minister of Delhi, objected to Modi’s remarks saying giving free education and medical facilities to students and people is not distributing “revdi“.
अपने देश के बच्चों को मुफ़्त और अच्छी शिक्षा देना और लोगों का अच्छा और मुफ़्त इलाज करवाना – इसे मुफ़्त की रेवड़ी बाँटना नहीं कहते। हम एक विकसित और गौरवशाली भारत की नींव रख रहे हैं। ये काम 75 साल पहले हो जाना चाहिए था। https://t.co/sHfiBvltU0
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 16, 2022
“Allegations are being levelled against me but I want to ask what my mistake is. There are 18 lakh students studying in Delhi govt schools. We are providing them with free, quality education. Am I committing a crime by giving them free, good education?”
“This should have been done in 1947 and 1950. We are setting up the foundation of the country, this is not giving out free revdis,” Kejriwal said.
“We provide free and quality medical care in government hospitals of Delhi. Is this giving revdi?” he asked.
“Those who abuse me have spent thousands of crores on buying airplanes and private jets for themselves. Kejriwal doesn’t buy airplanes for himself. Despite making so many things in Delhi free, our budget is still running in profit. I’m not saying this; the latest CAG report says this,” the AAP leader said.
