The schemes for the socioeconomic welfare of the eligible and underprivileged people cannot be regarded as “freebies,” according to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its application to intervene in a pending case on the subject before the Supreme Court.
In response to a petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay demanding action against political parties for offering freebies before elections, the AAP stated that the programmes for the worthy and poor cannot be termed giveaways.
“Being a key member of the national political opposition and the ruling party in two states/UTs, AAP has filed the present application for intervention, raising certain concerns about the maintainability and merit of the captioned writ petition relating to the distribution of so-called ‘freebies’ by political parties,” the Arvind Kejriwal-led party said in its petition.
It said that the petitioner (Upadhyay) is seeking to “camouflage” a thinly veiled attempt to further a certain political objective by using the method of public interest litigation.
According to the plea, the petitioner has not disclosed his current or previous ties to a specific ruling party and has instead introduced himself generically as a “social political activist.” “The applicant respectfully submits that the present Petition is not an instance of non-partisan litigation made in general public interest void of any personal or political motives,” the plea says.
“The petitioner himself has strong links to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), having served as its spokesperson and as a leader of its Delhi unit in the past. The petitioner’s frivolous petitions instituted in the name of public interest, often inspired by this party’s political agenda, have come under this Court’s criticism in the past,” the plea said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a harsh rhetorical attack on the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday, saying that individuals who have done zero development at the grassroots level now want to become heroes by distributing freebies (‘revdis’).
“Just now a press conference was done by Arvind Kejriwal ji. I will respond to his allegations. Firstly, you all must know that the people of the whole of India are saying that those who are zeroes at the grassroot level want to become heroes by distributing ‘revdis’,” said BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia. Bhatia further questioned the AAP government’s Delhi model of education. He said, “Arvind Kejriwal promised that he will give 500 new schools. But he is far from opening 500 new schools, and adding to that 16 schools were closed in Delhi. RTI shows that with 16 schools closed and 745 schools are running without a principal.”
Lashing out at the Centre for upsetting the country’s peaceful atmosphere, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal demanded on Monday that the central government provide free education, healthcare, 300 units of electricity, and unemployment benefits to all citizens.
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