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00:00The debate over freebies or welfare schemes is back front and centre in Indian politics
00:08just days ahead of the assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
00:12The Prime Minister launched a stinging attack on the Congress just days ago, after the Congress's
00:16Deputy Chief Minister in Karnataka seemed to suggest that they could no longer afford
00:21a free bus ride scheme for women in the state.
00:25This was one of their key poll promises.
00:27The Congress has since hit back and accused the BJP of double standards.
00:31And fact is, there are double standards here.
00:34Because what the BJP describes as freebies, when they announce similar schemes, they call
00:40them welfare schemes.
00:41So it's freebies when someone else does it, it's welfare schemes when they do it.
00:45And ironically, just days after attacking the Congress for this, Mr Modi in Jharkhand
00:50announced a slew of welfare schemes or freebies in Jharkhand while campaigning there, including
00:56an unemployment allowance, which is also something that the Congress has done in states
01:01where it is in power.
01:03The question that is fundamental to this is, what does this do to voters?
01:09At the end of the day, it is for voters to decide whether or not they want to vote in
01:14for a political party because of the promises that it has made, and they have every right
01:18to throw them out if those promises are not kept.
01:22But the double standards over the freebie or the welfare debate needs to end.