From waive off to write off of bank loans, AAP's tune changed but lies continues

New Delhi: Under attack from economists and government for spreading lies consistently over waiving off bank loans, Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday changed the use of word from waive off to write off of bank loans without changing the goal post. The party continued with its lies around PM Narendra Modi benefiting his friends by waiving off their bank loans. For Aam Aadmi Party, its leaders and supports, the waive off and write off of bank loans are same.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "dostvaad" has "completely ruined" the country's economy and asked him to answer why his "friends" got tax exemptions and their loans worth crores waived.

Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been accused of spreading lies deliberately to misguide his supporters that bank loans worth Rs 10 lakh crore have been waived off. Whereas, Rs 10 lakh crore loan were written off by banks which is completely different from waive off.

When a loan is written off by bank, the same is meant to be recovered from the debtor and banks have recovered the bad loans worth Rs 6.4 lakh crore.

At a press conference, he alleged the Centre has written off loans worth Rs 10 lakh crore and gave Rs 5 lakh crore tax exemption to Modi's "friends", pushing the country's economy to such a "bad state" that it has to say nothing can now be provided to people for free.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'dostvaad' has completely ruined the country's economy," Sisodia told reporters.

When the questions are raised, the BJP-led government at the Centre and the ruling party's leaders start "talking here and there", he alleged.

"So, I once again appeal to the prime minister to answer why he wrote off loans of his friends worth Rs 10 lakh crore and exempted their tax to the tune of Rs 5 lakh crore to benefit them and put the country's economy to such a state that you have to say that country will be ruined if anything is given to people for free now," the AAP leader said.

"Answer this question instead of talking here and there that you keep doing all the time," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on 'revdi' culture last month has started a debate on freebies in the country and thereafter a political slugfest is on between the BJP and the AAP on the issue.

He used 'revdis', a popular north Indian sweet often distributed during festivals, as a metaphor for freebies being promised by various parties to grab power and said the people, especially the youth, should guard against it.

On Saturday, Sisodia said it is for the first time in the last 75 years that the Union government had to "tax" food items like milk, curd, wheat and rice.

"The Central government is saying it does not have money to build schools, hospitals, pay pensions and bring schemes to give relief to poor people in the country," he claimed.

The Centre lacks funds to support such measures because it used taxpayers' money to fill up the "coffers of the friends" of Prime Minister Modi, Sisodia alleged.