PM Modi should have also added...: Chidambaram on 'freebies' debate
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said taxpayers resented their money being wasted on freebies. Congress leader P Chidambaram reacted to this.
Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram said Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said that taxpayers do not want their money to be wasted on 'freebies', but he should have also said that promising two free LPG cylinders ahead of the Gujarat elections is not a freebie. Neither is writing off the debt of 517 companies running into crores. "He could have, and should have, cited many more examples," Chidambaram tweeted on Sunday.
On Saturday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed houses built under Pradhanmantri Awas Yojana, he said he received many letters from taxpayers who protested the culture of freebies. "When I am giving 4 lakh houses, every tax-payer would think that some poor person from Madhya Pradesh is also celebrating Diwali besides me because of the new house. But when the same tax-payer sees that free revdis (freebies) are being distributed with the money collected from him, he becomes disappointed. A lot of taxpayers are writing letters to me today. I am glad that a big section of the country has resolved to free the country from revdi culture," PM Modi said.
Ahead of the election in Gujarat, the schedule of which is yet to be announced, the Gujarat government has announced that no fine will be collected for the violation of traffic rules amid the ongoing festive season till October 27. The announcement drew flak as the opposition asked why this should not be considered as 'revdi'. A few days ago, the Gujarat government also announced to give two free LPG cylinders every year to the beneficiaries under the government's Ujjwala scheme.
Commenting on the economic situation, Chidambaram said, "Ministry of Finance has warned on the economic situation that 'this is no time for celebrations and complacency'. Is the warning addressed to the Hon'ble Finance Minister? Or is it a warning addressed by the FM to the Hon'ble Prime Minister? The people need no warning. Because no one is celebrating thanks to the high unemployment, inflation, and interest rates, and the declining rupee."
