Taking a dig at his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), MP Varun Gandhi countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'muft ki revdi' (free sweets) remarks aimed at the Opposition.
Gandhi took to Twitter to respond to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's statement that the Union government should be congratulated for providing free ration to people, sharing a photo of a list of bad loans written off by the government in the last five years.
Sharing a figure of a total of nearly 10 lakh crore being written off, the Pilibhit MP said, "The House which expects a 'thank you' for providing 5 kg of ration to the poor, also tells that loans worth Rs 10 lakh crore have been written off in the past five years."
"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 asked.
Gandhi has previously criticised the BJP government at the Centre and in various states, for issues ranging from a paper leak during government exams in Uttar Pradesh to the ABG Shipyard loan fraud issue.
Earlier in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at political parties offering freebies to collect votes, denouncing the act and calling for the practice to be removed from politics, as it was "dangerous" for the nation.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took a dig at the PM's remark at an event in Gujarat's Jamnagar, asking people whether giving free facilities to citizens was a wrong thing to do.
"From a Crocin to transplant, we made it all free in Delhi. We don't ask if you're rich or poor. We don't ask people to bring BPL cards. We have made medical treatment free for two crore people. What else do you pay taxes for?" Kejriwal asked.
Kejriwal tweeted along the same lines, stating that offering free education and free medical treatment was an act towards building the nation, and was a good deed, while offering freebies to "friends was betraying India."
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)