Varun Gandhi takes ‘revdi’ swipe at Modi, says loan of Rs 10 lakh crore written of bizmen

New Delhi: In a latest salvo at the Narendra Modi government, ‘disgruntled’ BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Sunday claimed that the loans of nearly Rs 10 lakh crore of corrupt businessmen have been waived in the last five years.

Gandhi’s remark came after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed that the government must be congratulated for providing free ration to people. The Pilibhit MP tweeted in Hindi, “The House which expects a ‘thank you’ for providing 5 kg of ration to the poor also says that loans worth ₹ 10 lakh crore have been written off in the past five years.”

He tweeted a list of bad loans that have been written off since the financial year 2017-’18. The list was collated on the basis of a reply given in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad on August 2, according to an NDTV report. “The names of Mehul Choksi and Rishi Agarwal are at the top of the ‘free Revdi’ list. Who has the first right to government funds?” he added.

Banks have written off Rs 9,91,640 crore as bad loans between the financial years 2017-’18 and 2021-’22, Karad had said in his reply to a question asked by Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge, according to a report in Scroll. “Mehul Choksi and Rishi Agarwal top the list of those who have taken ‘muft ki revdi’”, Gandhi wrote in his tweet, citing data from the finance ministry. “Who has the first claim over the government’s assets?”

On Wednesday, according to a Times of India report, Gandhi had refuted his own party’s Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi on “ending the culture of freebies” saying there should be a discussion on pension and perks of parliamentarians, before taking up the issue of freebies to the public.

Revdi with a pinch of salt

Revdi, referring to freebies, has been at the centre of political debate after the PM cautioned people against going after political parties promising freebies, saying that the ‘freebie culture’ was dangerous for the country’s development. Notably, the BJP itself relies heavily on populism, say critics, highlighting some of the announcements the party made in the recent elections.

Notably, the Himachal Pradesh government announced free power up to 150 units, bus tickets at 50 per cent fare for women and free water in villages ahead of the assembly elections due later this year.

On the other hand, the BJP in Gujarat also seems to ignore it in poll-bound Gujarat. The government has promised free of cost Wi-Fi facilities in 4,000 villages, free monthly supply of Rs 1 kg pigeon pea or tuver dal, 2 kg of gram and 1 kg edible oil to pregnant women and lactating mothers for 1000 days. – INDIA NEWS STREAM