Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday again taunted the central government hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned against a culture of free-handing by political parties. Speaking at an event after the inauguration of the 296-km long Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister said that the culture of attention could hamper the country’s development.
He likened them to “revari”, a popular but cheap sweet in northern India. “Culture of ‘revari’ is very dangerous for the development of the country,” PM Modi said and urged the youth not to fall for this culture. “Those behind this ‘revari culture’ do not believe in building expressways, airports and defense corridors. Together we must defeat this mindset and remove this culture from politics,” he added.
Reacting to the remark, Akhilesh Yadav joined opposition leaders who reacted. “If those in power – they campaigned ‘thank you’ after the ‘revaris distribution – could focus on providing jobs to young people, they could avoid the culture of blame. Is the word ‘revari’ unparliamentary?” the former UP chief minister tweeted in Hindi.
He was referring to the “unparliamentary words” row ahead of the monsoon session. The controversy erupted over a document titled “Unparliamentary Statement” issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. It was a compilation of “references to words and expressions” that had been removed in the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and state legislatures last year.
However, amid opposition remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Prakash Birla said on Thursday, “No word or phrase has been banned in Parliament. Members of Parliament have full freedom to express themselves on the floor of the Chamber. The process of identifying non-parliamentary words based on words struck out in parliament or assemblies started from 1954.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also reacted strongly to the ‘revari’ remark on Saturday. “Free education, health care, not freedom, giving up loans from friends is ‘ki revadi free,'” he said. Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP promises free electricity in many poll-bound states. His victory in Delhi in the previous assembly elections was tied to an electoral promise.
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