"Stop Mocking Common Man": Delhi Minister Slams Centre On Freebies Debate

The common people are being ridiculed with the "free ki revdi" remark, he said.

In the second round of bitter verbal battles between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government over electoral promises, the national capital's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today reiterated that even while the Centre writes off "their friends'" loans worth lakhs of crores, they call welfare measures undertaken by the AAP government "freebies". He hit out at the BJP-led union government, accusing them of deliberately "destroying" the education system so that the common people are forced to send their children to private schools which he claimed are owned by "their friends". 

The common people are being ridiculed with the "free ki revdi" remark, he said, adding that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tried to scare the people by claiming it will destroy the country.

Ms Sitharaman had earlier this week demanded a debate on the distribution of freebies, countering Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's allegation that the Central government only distributes largesse among its friends in the corporate world. Mr Kejriwal, she added, is giving a "perverse twist" to the debate on freebies.

"Health and education have never been called freebies. No Indian government has ever denied them. So classifying education and health as freebies, Kejriwal is trying to bring a sense of worry and fear in minds of the poor. There should be a genuine debate on this matter," she had told reporters.