'Muft ki revadi?': CM Arvind Kejriwal after Washington DC makes public transport free
Last week, the city decided to expand its transport services under a plan that was unanimously agreed upon by Washington DC's council. It also decided to waive $2 fares for riders boarding metro buses within city limits from around July 1.
FollowDelhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday (December 16) took a jibe at the BJP and posted a tweet asking, "Should it be ridiculed as muft ki revadi?". This comes after Washington DC announced plans to make public transport free.
In a tweet, CM Kejriwal said, "Washington DC makes public transport free. Should it be ridiculed as “muft ki revadi”? No. Providing public services free to its citizens without burdening them with extra taxes reflects an honest and sensitive govt, which saves money and provides facilities to its people."
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Washington DC will permanently offer free bus rides on all routes from next summer and other big cities like Boston and Denver may follow suit, the Daily Mail reported.
Last week, the city decided to expand its transport services under a plan that was unanimously agreed upon by Washington DC's council. It also decided to waive $2 fares for riders boarding metro buses within city limits from around July 1.
The war of words between the AAP and BJP over the freebie culture started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while inaugurating the Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh in July this year, had cautioned people against the "revdi culture" under which votes were sought by promising free electoral freebies.
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The Prime Minister had said this could be "very dangerous" for the development of the country.
"This Revadi culture is very dangerous for the development of the country. Those with Revdi culture will never build new expressways, new airports or defense corridors for you. Together we have to defeat this thinking, remove Revdi culture from the politics of the country," PM had said.
Reacting to this, CM Kejriwal said that giving free and quality services to the public was not free revadi. He also said that free revdi included giving undue benefits to certain corporates and ministers.
The Delhi CM also noted that calling such things free 'revdi' is an insult to the common man. A month later, he asserted that free education and healthcare are not freebies and access to these two can eliminate the country's poverty in one generation.
