Telangana legislator Kalvakuntla Kavitha today reacted to recent statements of BJP leaders on what they call "freebies for votes". "Welfare schemes for poor people are not ‘freebies'. Waiving loans of dupe agencies are actual freebies," said the Member of Legislative Council (MLC) from the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
She was apparently responding to a wave of BJP statements, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments last month.
"In Telangana, we have around 250 welfare schemes that are being run for poor people," said K Kavitha, whose father K Chandrashekhar Rao is the Chief Minister. "It is our responsibility as a state government."
She said the BJP-led central government is "putting pressure on the state government to stop these schemes". "We're against this behaviour," said the former MP. "I request the intelligentsia of the country to rise to the occasion and oppose this atmosphere that is being generated in the country today."
She added, "India is such a diverse country with people from all backgrounds. It is the government's responsibility to help the weaker communities to break the cycle of poverty and progress. State governments are working towards it and the central government should not put any hindrances in that."
PM Modi had criticised "revdi culture" on July 6. Then, at the end of the month, he specifically spoke about state governments not paying power distribution companies the money they spend on subsidised supply. “This may look politically profitable in the immediate run. It is like passing on the burden to future generations... In politics, there must be courage to tell people the truth,” PM Modi said.
Even in court a week ago, the Union government supported a public interest litigation (PIL) that asked the Supreme Court to stop political parties from promising or giving “irrational freebies” in poll campaigns. The plea has been filed by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
