Election season is going on in the country. After the Lok Sabha elections, elections have been held in two states and the election process is about to begin in two other states. If asked what was the central issue of every election this year, the answer would be, free rabble. Many other things happen in elections but mainly all the parties fought the elections on the basis of free speech. That’s why it was not surprising when former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal proudly said that he has given ‘six free rewari’ to the people of Delhi and is going to give the seventh rewari. After all, Kejriwal is the father of the modern version of free revadi. Therefore, if they are proud of it and are wearing this phrase uttered by the Prime Minister as a medal on their chest, then why be surprised at that?
Exposing himself further, Kejriwal said that he is ready to campaign for Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he makes electricity free in 22 states ruled by NDA. Think, what kind of ideological, moral and political decline is there? BJP and Narendra Modi, whom Kejriwal, his party and their entire alliance consider bad for the Constitution, for the country and for the society, can also campaign for them only when electricity is free! Is this Kejriwal’s ideological commitment that if electricity becomes free, he will campaign for Modi also? Will we fight against Modi on this basis?
The question is, what will Kejriwal do if Modi’s party makes electricity free in Delhi? If Modi announces to provide electricity along with all the things that Kejriwal’s government is providing for free, will Kejriwal leave power in Delhi and campaign for Modi? This will definitely not happen because since the next day after leaving the post of Chief Minister, his restlessness has increased and he is challenging BJP to hold elections in November itself. They don’t even have the patience to wait till February!
Therefore, there is no surprise at Kejriwal’s words. They keep saying such contradictory and absurd things. It is surprising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi coined the phrase ‘Free Revadi’ and made fun of it, yet his party is doing the same politics! He had said that the country’s economy would be ruined by the politics of freebies. But his party has now become the champion of this politics. BJP is leaving all other parties behind in this politics. Recently in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren’s government started Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana to give cash money to women, in which women are being given one thousand rupees every month, while BJP announced Gogo Didi Yojana, in which if the government is formed, every woman will be given Rs. Will be given Rs 2100 every month.
That means double what Hemant government will give. Apart from this, BJP has also announced to give many things for free. It has started the Ladki Bahin Yojana in Maharashtra, in which women are being given one and a half thousand rupees every month. 46 thousand crore rupees will be spent every year on this scheme. Recently, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the subsidy on this scheme is so high that it is not certain whether the subsidy money for other schemes will be given on time or not.
This means that the budgets of all the governments are being affected by the free schemes, yet there is competition among all the parties. The leaders of the parties are proudly saying that they have given six free Revadis and will give the seventh. It would not be surprising if, in comparison to the Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP promises to provide eight goods or services for free. The competition is such that in Jharkhand, BJP has announced to give Rs 2100 per month to women, while the ruling JMM has said that if the next government is formed, it will increase the amount of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500.
Think, the parties are not disclosing the source of revenue. Measures to increase revenue are not being discussed. There is no talk on infrastructure development. The structural development of the country and the state is not being discussed. Talks about bringing qualitative change in people’s lives have gone to the background. Now there is only talk of free Revadi. Such promises are being made to win the elections, which the financial structure of the states is failing to fulfill. Governments are not enough to pay salaries and pensions. Governments have borrowed much more than the prescribed limit and a large part of their revenue is going to repay the interest on the loan. But the parties do not care about this. They have to come to power somehow, whatever happens after that. Winning elections has become the ultimate goal of politics. The parties and their leaders are not thinking that their politics will one day turn the entire economy of the country into a heap of debris.
The blind attachment of parties to power is understandable. For them, power is paramount and they do politics only for this. But what is more surprising is the thinking of common citizens. Despite lack of development of infrastructure, poor education and health system, unfulfilled employment needs and severe inflation and poverty, they are trapped in the trap of freebies. They do not understand that the governments are sucking their blood. The way voluntary organizations and hospitals give a treta pack of juice to the blood donor on donating clean blood.
Similarly, the governments are emptying the pockets of the people through various types of taxes i.e. draining their blood and in return they are giving a tetra pack of juice i.e. free Revdi. After donating blood, blood is produced in the body but the income of such people is not increasing. Unless people vote considering their broader and far-reaching interests, parties will continue to take their votes and exploit them in the name of free money.