‘Revadi culture’ or freebies by political parties to woo the electorate has triggered a major political controversy in the country.

The raging debate on ‘revadi’, (a sweet often distributed during festivals) was kicked off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi used it as a metaphor for freebies promised by political parties to grab power.

Sri Lanka’s economy hitting the rock bottom, has set off alarm bells for several developing countries. The Indian government has, however, ruled out the possibility of a Sri Lanka-like situation in the country, but advised the states to introspect their respective economic situation.

On July 19, in an all-party meeting during the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Centre had warned about the state-wise debt and the expenditure being incurred by them. Several leaders of regional parties present in the meeting had objected to the Central government raising the issue.

However, a few days before this meeting, on July 12, Modi ignited a political debate on freebies while addressing a rally in Deoghar, Jharkhand, after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of various development projects worth more than Rs 16,800 crore.

In Deoghar, Modi had said that people should stay away from the ideology behind shortcut politics as it can cripple the state’s economy and harm the country.

He added that it is very easy to get votes from the people by making populist promises while adopting short-cuts. Those who adopt short-cuts do not have to work hard nor do they think about the far-reaching consequences it can cause to the country.

But the truth is that the country whose politics is based on short-cuts, is sure to collapse one day. Short-cut politics destroys the country. Citing the example of how electricity is a necessity, Modi said that today one cannot think of a life without electricity.

“Without electricity, we will not be able to charge our mobile phones, watch TV, or get water. There will be no choice but to light a lamp or lantern during evenings. If there is no electricity, tomorrow all the factories will permanently shut down. But this electricity cannot be generated by short-cut. To generate this electricity, power plants have to be set up and thousands of crores of rupees have to be invested,” the Prime Minister said.

On July 16, at the inauguration of the Bundelkhand Expressway in Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh, Modi once again targetted the freebies culture and said that there is a challenge before the new India which if not taken care of now, will destroy the future of youth in the country. That’s why it’s important to remain alert of the danger of freebies culture. “Nowadays, every effort is being made in our country to promote the culture of getting votes by distributing free ‘revadi’ (freebies).”

Political leaders who promote it will never build new expressways, airports or defence corridors. Those promoting the culture feel that they can buy people’s trust by distributing free ‘revadis’ to them. The people have to unite together to defeat this mindset from the political discourse of the country.

Apparently, the Prime Minister was taking a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders for promising free electricity in every upcoming poll-bound state after forming the government in Delhi and Punjab.

Responding to the allegations, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the Centre for “mismanaging’ the country economy. Kejriwal said that the welfare schemes provided by the AAP government cannot be “freebies”.

Condemning the Prime Minister’s statement calling the welfare schemes of the Delhi government as freebies, Kejriwal said that free education and health services cannot be called freebies.

In retaliation, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra accused Kejriwal of deceiving people by offering them freebies to fulfill his poll ambitions and win elections.

The benefit of the Centre-launched welfare schemes is being directly provided to the poor sections of society, while Kejriwal, who pretends to work for the people, is busy giving freebies just to win elections, he alleged.

However, not only AAP, but the TRS government in Telangana and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu have also objected to the Central government’s claims and strongly criticised the BJP government.

The issue has become more political than being viewed from the prism of the economic state of the country. Therefore, political rhetoric is bound to hog the limelight in the coming days as well.