By Sidharth Mishra
Inaugurating an expressway in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the culture of giving freebies for votes, which has come to stay in Indian politics. “This Rewri culture (Hindi for freebie culture) is dangerous for the development of the country. Those with Rewri culture will never build new expressways, new airports or defence corridors for you. Together we have to defeat this mentality, remove Rewri culture from the politics of the country,” the Prime Minister said at Jalaun.
As far as giving the freebies go, no major political party is blameless. The tendency to canvas votes by promising free or subsidised goods and services is common to all parties. Though initially part of the political narrative in the southern states, it has come to acquire monstrous propositions in north India too especially courtesy the freebie distribution policies of the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi.
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